Hazy Shade of Winter
by itzagothamcitysiren
Summary: I know what you're thinking;Skadi made another decision without planning it through, how did this happen? Well at times you have to be rash to get answers. Long story short, after regaining her memories, her past finally catches up with her and now she's on a path of death and destruction, trapping her back on Asgard in the middle of a war for the throne. (Vol.3 in my GOTG series)
1. Time, Time Time, See What's Become of Me

**An. Whooopppp Vol. 3 is here! **

**To my returning readers, hello and welcome back! Lol, posting this story in the Thor second pretty much gives away where I'm going with this, which I know some of you have been asking if Skadi will be reunited with her brothers and family. I've been waiting to get to Vol. 3 since seeing ****Ragnarok**** in theaters and I can't wait to share my take on it.**

**And to any new readers, this is the continuation of a series I've been posting for Guardians so I welcome you to read this! I'd suggest reading the other two books, but if you really don't want to, you might just be a little lost so I'd suggest coming back to this after catching up :) **

**Now, enough talk and on with the story! Let me know what you think in the reviews and remember to favorite or follow :) **

_Chapter 1: __Time, Time, Time, See What's Become of Me_

Over the years there were many things that that Peter Jason Quill knew he'd become. A kickass space cowboy who scored lots of hot women? Check. A handsomely, charming hero who would swoop in and save the day, while winning the girl of his dreams? Also check. He could think of more things but at the moment those were the only two prominent ones that came to mind. His point was that there were many other things he pictured he'd become the moment he was abducted by Yondu all those years ago except one; the last thing he'd ever imagine he'd become was a father, or rather just someone who had to be in charge of a child.

Who was he even? He was in no right responsible enough to be in charge of a life besides his own. He betted even that if it wasn't for his bad-ass, gorgeous, space princess of a girlfriend, Skadi, he wouldn't be able to get through the day without setting something on fire. The self-proclaimed Star-lord was many things, but, being domestic was still not one of them.

He would stay up some nights confiding in Skadi, wondering if what he was doing was right. Was he being too tough? Not tough enough? It was hard to tell these days anymore. He felt like he was talking to a wall half the time. It wasn't until Skadi would kindly remind him that he wasn't alone, that none of them knew what they were doing but at least they were all doing their best, right?

Peter questioned this nearly every moment of the day, explicitly now as he stood in the doorway, arms crossed against his thick chest, taking a deep breath to try to calm his nerves before he tried to speak again.

"Dude, are you even hearing me right now?" He asked, grabbing his arms tighter, in anger.

Why had he even volunteered to do this anyway? Rocket was two rooms down and ready to jump in with whole _do as I say or else I'm going to smash that tablet _act that usually did the trick. Peter had far more important things to be worried about, to be getting ready for. But he just had to go in headfirst to try and be the cool one. He should've listened to Rocket and let him handle this.

"Seriously, you got to clean your room. It's a complete mess!" Peter shouted, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he looked around the gawky room again.

Inside, a now teenaged Groot sat on his bed, furiously taping away on his tablet. He was trying his hardest to ignore Peter as he nagged him again, and again; seemingly all day this was the one thing Peter wanted to do. He remembered back when he was a child and how much fun Peter was and now he was nothing but a boring, badgering adult.

"I am Groot." He mumbled, half wanting Peter to not hear but half not caring if he did.

"Excuse me?" Peter asked, appalled, removing his arms from their crossed position and putting them down at his sides. "I'm boring? I am not boring, man; you're boring! Don't side step away from the fact that I need this room cleaned now, the vines are starting to now trail out from underneath the doorway. Just trim them and this whole me having to nag and be_ boring _will end; what else do you need? We've bought you at least five different pairs of gardening scissors!"

"I am Groot." Groot shook his head in disdain.

"You know what is boring? Not doing the dishes when you were told to do them. Or not being able to walk down the hallway because your vines are everywhere!" Peter yelled absolutely annoyed that this kid had the acorns to call him, Star-lord, of all people, a nagging boring old man.

Groot sighed, once again ignoring him and turning back to focus on his game. He worked so hard to get to this level and refused to let Quill make him start all over again. He finally just got his tablet back from Rocket last night after having it been taken away for a week for when he didn't listen to Gamora when she told him he had to clean the dishes.

Groot didn't understand why he had to do them; he spent that one particular night at an arcade while they docked on a planet to refuel and restock. He wasn't even home when they had eaten so why did he have to clean up after them? Gamora tried reprimanding him by saying that he was supposed to be home for dinner but since he was late for his curfew, his punishment for making them all worry and go down to the arcade to find him was to do the dishes.

Groot rolled his eyes as Peter moved deeper into his room and went to stand on the side of him. Letting out a long, irritated sigh, the tree reluctantly looked up at him.

"I am not boring, what's boring is you rolling your eyes like that at me and making an exasperated sound. When did you become so disrespectful?" Peter now stood with his hands on his hips, hunched over to get closer to his face. He pulled himself back up when Groot moved back to play with his tablet. "Now I know how Yondu felt."

"Groot," A stern, yet soft voice entered the room.

Both Peter and Groot looked towards the door both with completely opposite expressions. Peter smirked, eyeing his girlfriend, looking her up and down before looking at Groot as he told him how he was about to get it. Groot wanted to sneer at Peter as the threat left his lips but thought twice about it before he did. He knew at the moment it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut and his facial expressions clear of any contempt.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't just hear you not listening to Peter and we're gonna agree on you getting this room cleaned now." The goddess of winter leaned against the doorframe, one hand resting at her side while the other rested on the curve of her hip. "I would hate to go get Rocket and have him lock up that tablet again."

Groot nodded solemnly, placing the tablet on his bedside table before standing up begrudgingly. Saying that he was going to go get a trash bag and start throwing out the vines he'd been shedding, the teenager slumped his shoulders down as he dragged his feet out of the room. Skadi gave him a loving pat on the shoulder as he walked past her, giving him a sad but stern smile, silently telling him that she understood but that he had to listen to them all.

Once she saw him out of view in the hall she turned to face Peter, now giving him a stern look as well. Peter groaned, knowing that it was now his turn for a talking too. If there was one thing about Skadi that drove Peter up a wall was how quickly she came to Groot's defense. The tree had her wrapped around his skinny fingers. Peter walked up to her, almost tripping on vines on his way out. Cursing and shaking his foot free he finally reached her.

"Don't even say that I was too hard on him." He gritted his teeth at her, before making his way back to their room down the hall.

"You weren't too hard on him." Skadi followed him, right on his heels, her voice trailing off as if she had more she wanted to add.

Peter opened their door, moving to their bed and looked at the bags that where placed on top of it. "But?"

"But," Skadi laughed, closing the door so Groot wouldn't hear as he walked passed the room to get back to his. "You lose your patience too quickly with him; he's embarrassed. It's not his fault, he's a teenager going through weird tree puberty that none of us know how to help him through. You, Rocket and Gamora just constantly losing your temper and yelling and taking away things from him are doing nothing. His attitude is just getting worse. Just talk to him, listen to him and he'll talk and listen to you."

"Since when do you know everything about kids?" Peter shook his head, knowing that she was right.

Again, who was he? He wasn't a parent and didn't know the right and wrong ways of doing things. When Groot was young it had all seemed so easy, the pair always being so good with handling the little guy; of course Rocket was also there and super close with him as well. It wasn't until he became a teenager were they all seemed to struggle with raising their once small adorable tree besides Skadi. She out of nowhere was a natural.

"I don't, I just think about how I wished to be treated when I was growing up." She shrugged, moving to stand near him. She hugged his waist from behind, going on her tiptoes to kiss the side of his neck lightly. "Groot still looks up to you, you know. He told me the other day."

Peter smiled, liking the reassurance that the youngest of them still liked him at least. There were so many days where Peter felt like he didn't. Peter's fear was ending up being like his birth father and having Groot hate him for the rest of his life.

Shaking his head, Star-lord turned around in Skadi's arms so that now she was snuggled up to his chest. He wrapped his own arms around her, pulling her to him tighter, gently swaying them side to side for a second. Putting his chin on the top of her head and giving her another quick squeeze before parting from her, turning back to the bags.

"Are you excited?" He asked her, reaching to put one of the larger backpacks on his back.

"A whole weekend alone with you?" She flared her nostril up at him, faking disgust. "It sounds like a terrible time, why would I be excited?"

"Ha-ha." Peter rolled his eyes, pretending to find her bad joke funny. He grabbed another bag, slinging it over his shoulder, leaving her the other two to grab.

Peter knew for a fact that she was actually more than excited about this weekend. It'd been four years since the Guardians formed, and as much as the couple loved their family, they did miss their time alone together. It was about a year and a half into them all being a team that the two decided that at least once or twice a year the pair would give themselves a couple of days to go off and do their own thing.

The last year was tough though. There were a lot of planets and people that needed their help and free time was hard to find. The Kree Purists were once again on the rise, gaining more followers from Hala and even other planets. The Guardians were surprised to hear that the Badoon's had even joined their cause, or at least the Brotherhood did anyway; they all wondered if they'd ever run into their old teammate, seeing that now the Sisterhood had been actively raiding different Kree outposts since the Brotherhood had taken the Kree's side.

Peter and Skadi almost thought it was godsend when Gamora agreed that they all were exhausted from not only helping Nova Prime take out the Kree, but from all the other crazy jobs that seemed to stumble their way. They were all shocked but didn't dare complain when Gamora proclaimed that the galaxy could handle a week or so without them.

"I'm just excited of being able to sleep in without being woken up by Gamora for early morning training for the next few days." Skadi laughed, picking up the rest of the bags, putting Peter's Zune in his back pant pocket, seeing that he almost forgot it on the bed. "I get why she wants us to be prepared but I don't know how much more my body can take."

"Well," Peter chuckled, opening the door again for them to exit the room. "I don't think your body is gonna get much rest this weekend if I have anything to do about it."

"Really Peter?" Skadi exclaimed, laughing loudly at his _dorkiness_, as she called it. She blushed as well, noting to herself that she was indeed looking forward to that _part_ of their weekend but thought leave it to Peter for being crude about it. "Is that a way to talk to a princess?"

"To my princess it is," Peter smirked, looking back at her as they made their way down the hall of the Benatar, until they got to the docking bay.

Rocket stood nearby, fiddling with some device in his hand. He looked up at them smugly as he heard them approaching. "Oh well, look who it is? The two lovebirds who just have to go take a vacation while the world is ending. How responsible and noble of our fearless leader and resistant princess."

"The world isn't ending, Rocket." Skadi rolled her eyes at the rodent, knowing that he was somewhat joking but also being serious.

Rocket was just bitter that Gamora was making him still stay on the ship with her, asking him to help work on the new mods Nova Prime wanted to improve the security systems in the prisons they were keeping the Kree Purists in. Her reasoning was that since they weren't actively on the field they weren't technically working even though Rocket disagreed completely.

"By all means, we can stay; just make sure you wear really thick earplugs tonight cause I'm not sure how quiet we'll be," Peter joked, enjoying the hairy creature's amused face turn into one of disgust.

"You meat bags are disgusting!" Rocket shouted, moving to open the bay doors for them, ready to be free from them for a few days. "It's bad enough I've already walked in on the two of 'ya at least five times in the last couple of months doing it in places where you shouldn't be doing it! It's called a bed! I know you two have one, use it!"

Rocket flared his arms around as he spoke. Images of the compromising positions he'd found them in flashed through his mind making him gag as he had thought he'd long erased them. He didn't understand why they felt the need to do the dirty whenever and wherever they wanted nowadays. Tables were meant for eating, not for…well you know.

"I'll be here to pick you up first thing in the morning, two days from now and I swear to God that if you aren't here by then I'm leaving without you!" Rocket warned with a narrow glare.

Peter waved him off, knowing Gamora would never let him leave without them. Grabbing Skadi's hand, Quill dragged her off the ship eager to get their mini vacation started. They were on Xandar but Rocket dropped them off at one of the planets top tourist spots far away from the capital and the stress that awaited them once their vacation was over.

The two had been here once before, years and years ago on of job for Yondu. They didn't have much time to mess around and explore, only being able to hit one bar before they left but neither being able to afford any of the drinks on the menu so they ended up just pit pocketing people instead.

This time was different though. Neither of them were considered criminals and they could actually afford the drinks on the menu; not many, but at least a couple. They could actually relax on this trip and see all the things they couldn't last time. They didn't have to fear about being arrested or caught by the guy they were hired to steal from. There was absolutely no way that this trip could lead them to a bad time; there was no way.


	2. I've Got Two Tickets In My Pocket

**an. Quick thanks to everyone whose read chapter one and thanks to everyone whose favorited or followed already. It's make me happy that people are still with me :) ****Shout out**** to those favoriting/following this story: Arianna Le Fay, Rinabee, kuraymitenshi25, 13atkinsk, ArsenicAssassin, Cushy96, Ensign Outlander, Fly Pig, HotaruKenobi, Just2aw2s0me, RenInWonderlandd, arax909, sugar1113, .7**

**review replies**

_**guest: **_**lol yes, very foreshadowing**

_**Arianna Le Fay:**_** Yay! You're here! I always look forward to your reviews :) And this isn't set in the Dark World, but in the aftermath lol. There will ****defiantly**** be some Guardians/A****sgardian interactions in the coming chapters that I'm super excited about. **

_Chapter 2: __I've Got Two Tickets In My Pocket_

With being a Guardian of the Galaxy for all these years now, Skadi knew she should be used to the looks given to her by the Xandarian's; the Guardians did save them all from their doom years ago. They were all practically idolized by the planet's citizens ever since defeating Ronan and their continuous fight against his followers, and anyone else who threatened the galaxy for that matter. Their constant pointing and jaw dropping stares were something even the likes of Gamora had gotten used to. Though, Skadi couldn't figure out what it was about this time that made her slightly annoyed at the gawking.

She stood near her and Peter's bags as he was at the front desk of the fancy hotel their _celebrity status_ got them a room in. Biting her lip, she had been looking down at the Zune in her hands to try and move her attention anywhere else besides the elite citizens of Xandar. She felt more agitated than she should have been as she could hear an elderly woman gossiping about her and Peter with another woman. She couldn't make out everything they were saying, it was all harmless nonsense but Skadi couldn't find herself to tune it out even though she easily could be with the device in her hand.

Maybe it was just the heat getting to her? It was Xandar's summer season after all and Skadi was quick to find out that their summers were hot and her and heat didn't mix. She could feel the sweat already forming behind her neck and her skin feeling sticky. She'd already braided her hair off to the side as her and Peter walked from the Benatar to the hotel to get her long hair off her neck. She'd braided it like how her mother used to when she was a little girl; two small braids starting on each side of her head that led into one big one resting down her back.

But no, it couldn't just be the heat. The Guardian's had taken jobs on much hotter planets before much to her distain; this was nothing compared to one job they'd taken where it was so hot she could barely form a small snowflake, let alone her normal flurry of ice and snow. At least here the big lobby had fans on the ceilings and artificial air blasting from vents as high as they could.

_Maybe if they closed all the windows and doors the cold air would actually stay in, _she thought to herself, crossing her arms against her chest as she looked out the wide opens doors and out into the busy street. She looked around, trying to keep her facial expression as calm as possible not wanting to give any reason for Peter to fuss over her in public or even for the public to have any reason to keep gossiping about her.

Skadi was a princess, even though she'd chosen to not go public with it and tell anyone besides the Guardians. Sure some of the Nova Core knew she was from Asgard, due to Prime telling her about her blood being Asgardians and there were others who knew about it as well due to certain people who must've overheard that conversion not knowing how to keep their mouth shut. But regardless, she chose not to tell Nova that she was really an Asgardian princess knowing that that news would travel around faster.

Did Skadi want to go back home? Eventually, yes but now wasn't the time. She wasn't ready to go back and face everyone she'd left behind. She was still angry at her father for trying to send her off to get married to someone he clearly didn't research because it wasn't really even the Spartax King she'd be marrying, it would've been Ego. After all these years she still questioned how her father, the supposed all-knowing and powerful King of the Gods was so stupidly tricked by Ego.

It wasn't even her father she was still angry with, it was also her brother. Loki promised her he'd go back to her and they'd be together in hiding but he never came for her. He'd just left her there with Amora and then all of this happened. Why did he never go after her? Why did no one go after her? Maybe Loki's spell was just that good and did its job perfectly; maybe they just couldn't find her and Loki for whatever reason decided to not go back to her. It hurt to think he'd just so easily abandon her.

Peter and the others had questioned her a few times since she regained her memories, asking if she wanted to go back. And every time she'd say that same as before; no. It was a lie, but she'd never admit out loud that she did want to go back. She knew if she did the chances of her being able to leave were slim. Her father would surely punish her for running off and never let her leave.

She had told Peter that when he'd ask her why she didn't want to go back home, quoting her on how she once said _she'd kill to have chance to find out who she was_. She also said how she didn't want another Ego, how she didn't want to chance jeopardizing her friend's lives by leading them into a situation like that again. She still blamed herself for what happened on Ego no matter how many times Peter told her it wasn't her fault. It was all a lie, it was her fault. She convinced him to go, didn't listen to Gamora when she tried warning them and no one could tell her otherwise.

Skadi huffed, looking back to see Peter still locked in conversation with the clerk behind the desk. The clerk was clearly a fan, Skadi figured as she saw Peter reenacting the terrible dance moves he did years ago as he had distracted Ronan. Rolling her eyes, Skadi tried lightening up, knowing that she indeed needed this trip and wouldn't let her mind overthink and overheat.

Her mind had been overthinking too much lately, the stress of how busy they'd been had secretly been getting to her. Though, it hadn't been much of a secret anymore and in all actuality it was the whole reason why Gamora came to say they needed a break. The woman had become like an older sister to the Asgardian over the years, each girl knowing the other better than the back of their hand.

Gamora was trained to be overworked whereas Skadi wasn't, or any of the Guardians for that matter, minus maybe Drax. Regardless each of them handle their stresses in different ways. Peter for example would simply turn on his Zune and get lost in his music, letting all the pressures of leading the team temporarily fade away. Rocket would tinker; he'd keep his mind and hands busy by inventing new gadgets and weapons until he'd knock out at his work desk. Drax would simply train, the only comfort being that he knew he had to get stronger and stronger, until he knew he was strong enough to avenge his wife and daughter.

And Mantis was Mantis, and it was very rare for the girl who could read and alter emotions to ever seem overwhelmed. Everything always seemed so new to her and merely talking to her family would keep her at peace from the crazy galaxy she was finally exposed to. Even Groot, who'd just been allowed back on missions, would just stare at his tablet for hours on end, playing that mind numbing game.

But Gamora noticed how Skadi didn't really have a way to release her stress; for as long as Gamora knew Skadi she was a bundle of nerves waiting to explode. The only things that she saw that would relax the girl were back when Groot was just a baby and the pair would play together but now that Groot was a grumpy teenager it seemed that the only thing that truly calm Skadi was being able to spend time away from their hectic lives.

In reality, Gamora knew there was no way with everything going on in the galaxy that she should have ever let them take time off but Gamora could see her team burning out. Peter listened to his Zune less and less, Rocket became agitated whenever he had to come up with some new gizmo for a job and Drax would be seen sitting and staring out of portholes into space instead of training. With her team's spirits seemly being deflated, even Mantis wasn't her usual cheery self, everyone else's negative emotions affecting her own mood while Groot had started to rebel against them, acting out with every chance he got.

It was Gamora, who, took it upon herself one morning to suggest them taking time to cool off after a long talk with Skadi. They'd all come home after a rough mission. Aches and moans were heard throughout the ship after the mess they'd just been through. The raid on a Kree outpost hadn't gone as easily has Nova Prime had suggested it would. Drax and Mantis had taken quite a hit, Drax having jumped in to save Mantis from what could've been a lethal blow. They all felt exhausted and defeated, going off to their own ends of the ship to either pout or lick their wounds as the two girls couldn't get down from their adrenaline rushes.

The moment Mantis had been struck down, the two older woman kicked into overdrive. Gamora hacking and slashing away at every Kree Purist that got in her way. Skadi joined her, hearing Mantis's cries as the laser wound burnt and stung. Skadi took to the skies, clearing a path for them to escape as Drax, who had been the closet to Mantis scooped the bug lady up and tried to get back to the ship without another scratch. The Kree rained fire on them, swearing to refuse the Guardian's escape. Between Gamora cutting through the soldiers on the ground and Skadi shattering down a hailstorm on them, the other's managed to escape the chaos before anyone else got hurt.

The two girls both found themselves up in the cockpit that night, looking out at the stars, at first in silence before Skadi was the first to spark a conversation. She told Gamora how tired she was, but how restless her body felt at the same time as well. She wanted a break and didn't know how much more her mind and body could handle of all the near death experiences. So, Gamora didn't fight Skadi when she mentioned how she wanted to go away for just one weekend with Peter. Instead, Gamora agreed, much to Skadi's surprised.

Skadi was grateful that Gamora agreed about letting her take this trip, even if it was a quick one. She didn't want the many stares ruining her chance for a good weekend; she refused to let Gamora's kind gesture be wasted by her sudden bad mood. Placing the Zune in her pant pocket, deciding to stop letting her mind run wild, she moved to sling her backpack over her shoulders as two workers came by with a trolley to bring their bags up to their room.

She smiled at them in thanks, moving to go stop Peter's bragging so they could finally go get some food like they planned to once he checked them in. Turning on her heels swiftly, she stopped, something or well rather someone catching her eye. She was pretty sure her mind was playing tricks on her and shook her head, quickly looking back to Peter, seeing how he was finishing his conversation and looked as if he was going to start walking over to her.

Looking back behind her, the figure was gone, causing her to blink rapidly now fully convinced her mind had been playing tricks. Letting out a soft grunt and pinching the bridge of her nose, she shook her head.

"Hey, sorry I took so long." Peter's voice approached her, causing her to drop her hand to her side. He tilted his head to the side at her, wondering why she looked like she had a migraine and a half when she was perfectly fine before he left to go check them in. "You okay?"

"Ugh, yeah," She somewhat groaned, holding her stomach as it growled. "I think I'm starting to see things; I thought I just saw-, never mind I'm seeing things. It must be the heat and that I'm starving."

She tried playing it off, looking back to where she thought she had seen him, her brother she'd just been stuck thinking about. Confirming that he wasn't actually there, she looked back at Peter expectantly waiting for him to agree to head out for food.

Peter looked at her puzzled, following her line of sight and saw no one standing there either. She'd shrugged her shoulders as she told him it was nothing, reaching out for him to grab her hand. Intertwining their fingers, she began to pull him away from the lobby, wanting to desperately get out of the watchful eyes and eat something.

"We're going to that seafood place Dey told us about, and you're paying." She told him matter-of-factly, swinging their hands up and down slightly as they walked out to the busy streets.

Peter chuckled, knowing that he would've paid either way but loved how adorable and happy she currently looked as she began listing off the menu of things she wanted to try. He led her up to the other side of the street, remembering what restaurant Dey had told them about a few months back. Skadi continued to ramble on, talking about all the other things she planned for them to do while thinking about the giant platter of food she was going to make Peter get for her. She ignored the slight nagging in the back of her head, easing it away with conversation as they made their way into the crowded streets.

_Loki wasn't there; no one was there,_ she kept repeating in the back of her head.


	3. I Always Thought That I'd See You Again

**an. so Far From Home was perfect...just wanted to throw that out there lol. Anywho, I'm back with another chapter. Things will be picking up in this one and I'm excited :) **

_Chapter 3: __I Always Thought That I'd See You Again_

Waking up the next morning was something both Skadi and Peter were not looking forward to doing. They were both exhausted from the day and night previous and intended to sleep in as late as they could. Though having getting back to their hotel room at the late hours of the night and not actually going to sleep until the early hours of the morning, they'd forgotten to close the blinds and now they found themselves groaning as the bright light woke them up.

Peter rolled over, trying to shield his eyes in his pillow, pulling the blanket with him. Skadi groaned as the blanket was ripped from her and her bare body was now exposed. She rolled over onto her stomach, trying to snatch the blanket back from Peter but he held on tightly, now using it to cover his head. The princess sat up grasping the covers tighter, successfully pulling them off of him and onto her.

Peter let out a louder groan than she did, mimicking her almost. He rolled over onto his side in order to lift the blanket and let himself back underneath it. She pushed him back with her butt, not allowing him in. Peter looked offended, ignoring the fact that he'd just denied her access from it seconds ago.

"Why do you do this?" He questioned, mumbling as he was still drowsy.

"Go shut the blinds." She ordered, pointing a finger out from underneath the blanket, pointing him to the direction of the open blinds. "I command you,"

"But I have no clothes on, people will see me." Peter tried to excuse himself from moving, sinking deeper into the mattress.

"We're on like the top floor."

"There are ships flying around," Peter grumbled, slowly sitting up and knowing that he'd find no excuse for her to buy. Walking towards the window in his birthday suite, he closed the blinds, dramatically sighing at he did so, letting the room grow darker. Turning back around, he noticed Skadi peering out from her mountain of blanket and stared at him intently. He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, totally catching her checking him out.

"You have a nice bum." Skadi said in a small voice, not even denying it once she knew she was caught.

Peter smiled, not from accepting the compliment, even though he did, but he smiled because he was happy at how peaceful it had been with just the two of them. They grew accustomed over the years of always hearing the others off and about the ship, never being truly alone. It was nice to be able to share a soft, playful moment with her without hearing Rocket shouting about something off in the background or Drax's bellowing laugh.

He watched her push herself back to his spot on the bed, lifting the covers, welcoming him back on the bed. He took her spot, laying down on his back, closing his eyes to go back to sleep. He reopened them though when he felt her shift and move to straddle him. He groaned, not in a tired way but an excited one. He loved morning sex even if it was rare that the two would have time for it; it was lazy but had a different kind of passion to it. He'd thought they'd worn each other out last night but apparently Skadi was still up for more.

It wasn't until hours later, after the two showered and got ready for the day, did the pair venture back out to the town. Both of their stomachs were growling as they hadn't really eaten since they went to that restaurant for lunch yesterday. Afterwards they'd gone to explore the town some more, hitting some shops and Skadi even managed to convince Peter to go to an art museum. When the sun began to disappear the pair went back to their rooms and changed before going bar hopping, until after hours and both having a decent buzz, Peter more than Skadi, the pair went back to their room.

The two settled on having some street food for lunch, the grease helping Peter's hangover. As they ate the fried foods they walked towards the pier, watching the fishing ships docking and the airships flying about. It was still hot out, Skadi settling on wearing some shorts and a black tank with a long mesh sleeved shirt over it. Her blonde hair, being the longest it'd ever been was braided again, the heat making it frizzy it she had it any other way.

She took another bite, looking at Peter again happily. It was weird seeing him without his jacket; he wore it everywhere but he'd be dying if he wore it now. He just settled for a dark blue shirt that hugged his body perfectly and his regular pants and boots combo. She'd questioned that with even that on she didn't know how he wasn't dying, but Peter was firm when he said that he wasn't a shorts guy. Skadi noted how she was still sweating and she was wearing shorts. She also noted how she'd make him pay for her to get them something cold to snack on after this.

Letting out a content sigh, Skadi finished up her meal, saying how she'd be back so she could go get said treat, eying an ice cream stand not too far from them. Peter nodded at her, still eating his as he leaned against the railing of the boardwalk. Skadi quickly made her way to the stand, reaching it in no time. She bit the side of her thumb as she read the different flavors as she suddenly got a weird feeling of being watched. She figured it was just people who recognized her and tried to shake it off as she focused on the menu.

Eventually she decided, taking a giant lick out of the fruity dessert as she handed the man the unit's for it. Turning around to make her way back to Peter, she felt that feeling again, her eyes darting from side to side. Everyone around her appeared to be doing their own thing, children were playing in the grassy area nearby, adults walked the pier and everyone seemed to be paying her no mind. Wiping her sweaty palm on her shorts, she walked back towards Peter a little more hurriedly.

From the corner of her eye though, she could see someone approaching her, almost speed walking to reach her. She felt them nearly directly behind her as she was about to react. Instincts kicking in, Skadi wiped her head followed by her body around, ready to tell whoever this was off. Just as she did this whoever was tailing her, grabbed her arm, gently. They jerked her backwards causing her to drop her treat to the ground. She let out an angry growl, making a fist with her hand and winding it back to connect it to his face.

"Well aren't you a hard girl to find?" a blonde, goateed man smiled, warmly at her.

Skadi instantly recognized him, her harsh demeanor dropping as she looked the man up and down in shock. There was no way he was really here? She had to be delusional. But she could feel his hand gripping her upper arm tightly and she could hear him breathing, and see the slight breeze moving his hair about.

"Fandral?" She squeaked, a soft smile creeping up to her lips. The man smiled in response, releasing his secure grip and replacing it with a tight hug. Reality hit her as she returned the hug, nearly crushing herself against his chest, gasping out "You're really here!"

"Of course I'm really here," He chuckled, letting her go before looking her straight in the eyes. "We're here to take you home."

"We're?" Skadi tilted her head, realization hitting her hard. "Home?"

"Excuse me, am I missing something here?" Peter's asked, walking towards them, long dropping his food on the ground after seeing the man grabbing Skadi. "Who are you?"

Fandral looked between the two, somewhat offended that the mortal didn't know who he was. He offend forgot when venturing outside of the nine realms people weren't familiar with Asgardians. He looked to Skadi before back at Peter,

"Fandral of the Warriors Three; I'm here to take the princess home now, as if it was any of your concern to begin with." His posh voice sounding like nails to a chalkboard to the Guardian as he spoke.

Fandral turned back to Skadi, putting an arm around her back, beginning to move to lead her away from the mortal. She drug her feet into the ground, ruining the grass as she fought back from him. Fandral stopped, confused as to why she was preventing him from taking her back to Asgard. He looked at her questionably as she released herself from him and moved to stand near Peter. The mortal grabbed her hand and took a step in front of her, coming almost chest to chest with Fandral.

"The lady stays here, Fandral from the Warriors of No One Cares." Peter hissed, putting on his best mean face, letting his voice go deeper than normal.

"Are you preventing the princess from returning home?" Fandral pushed his chest up against Peter's, pushing him a step back. "I will slay any person who threatens the crown"

"I ain't threatening nothing ass-hat, I'm just not letting you take her away." Peter snapped back pushing Fandral back himself with both hands, letting go of Skadi for a second.

He felt a pang in his chest, it beating quickly as all he could think about was punching this guy straight in the face for laying a hand on his girl. Who did this asshole think he was? Just walking up here and thinking he could take her away from him so easily. He wouldn't have it.

"You aren't a smart one are you?" Fandral smirked, chuckling at the mortal.

Confused as to why the guy with the stupid mustache would say that he moved backwards to get Skadi again and get them away but before he could reach her, he heard her scream out in annoyance, causing Peter to wipe around to see what happened. Behind him, stood a big man, he was around the same height as him but his was, _um_, well a lot rounder around the belly area. He had picked up Skadi, propping her over his shoulder as she hit his back, screaming at him to put her down.

"Volstagg put me down this instant!" Skadi barked in frustration, not wanting to hurt him but would if he didn't listen to her.

"You could never hurt me, little one." The redheaded, bearded man bellowed, ignoring Peter's death glare and began walking away.

"Hey!" Peter shouted, moving to grab his blasters but realized he left them on the ship. He cursed, reaching into his pocket to call the others for backup. As he was about to hit the call button, Fandral hit him against the back of his neck with the hilt of his sword, knocking him down to the ground. Peter laid still, wanting them to walk away and play dead as they did. When he knew that they were no longer paying attention to him he reached back for the fallen communicator and called the Benatar.

"What is it Quill? Aren't you busy making goo-goo faces with-,"

"I need you guys here now!" Peter shouted, standing up, earning Fandral's attention. "Bring me my blasters so I can blow this guy sky high!" Peter said, before sending them their location and shoving the device in his pocket. Peter charged at the Asgardian, knowing that he'd kick this dude's ass even if he didn't have his blasters.


	4. I Won't Make It Any Other Way

**an. so I decided that I'll be nice and post two chapter's tonight :) **

_Chapter 4: __I Won't Make It Any Other Way_

Skadi puffed, knowing that Volstagg wasn't listening to her as she pleaded with him to let her go. He just kept walking, apologizing and saying that he was just doing what the All-father commanded him of doing. She could also see Fandral stopping to fight Peter, unsheathing his sword, causing her to pound her fist against Volstagg's back harder, actually earning a groan of surprise from him.

"Don't make me hurt you!" She gave him once last warning. "Let me down now!"

"Again, I'm sorry princess, I'm just following orders." He said, frowning as he reached an open area of the park. "Skurge open the-,"

Volstagg didn't get to finish his sentence as he cried out in pain. Skadi had formed a sharp shard of ice from behind his back, reluctantly jabbing it into his shoulder blade. She didn't want to but she knew she had to harm him and without the use of his arm he wouldn't be able to swing his axe or do much fighting. She squirmed out of his grasp, pushing him backwards with a strong force, digging deep into her muscles and using as much of her Asgardian strength that she could.

As he stumbled backwards, grasping his shoulder in pain, he looked up to give her a somewhat proud smirk. She gave him a confused sneer as a response. He had always rooted for her to be trained in combat and to see her still on her toes made him amused instead of angry at her stabbing him. She didn't give him much more time to think though, sending another ice shard towards Fandral, aiming for his hand as he was about to swipe down on Peter.

Fandral hissed as it was skimmed against his hand, not impeding into his skin but grazed over it. He looked back at her with a smirk, feeling the same way Volstagg felt; impressed. The princess seemed to have grown into the warrior she always wanted to be as a child and was apparently not going with them without a fight. What was it with the children of Odin doing stupid things for mortals?

Peter took one of the Three Musketeers distracted state and swatted the sword out of his hand, causing it to fall a few feet away from them. Peter ignored the citizens gathering at a safe distance, eager to see the new _villains_ the two Guardians were fighting. He landed a quick punch to Fandral's face, smirking as the Asgardian looked somewhat shocked at the mortal's actions. He wiped his hand against his bottom lip, surprised to see that he managed to draw a little blood. Smirking once again, he faced his fist.

"So hand to hand then?" Fandral taunted, throwing his own round of punches at Peter.

Peter was no Gamora, but Yondu made sure he could fight. Could he stand up and go face to face with a trained Asgardian warrior? Peter would soon find out; he'd faired pretty decently against Gamora who was trained by Thanos himself so this guy couldn't be that tough.

Skadi ran past Volstagg, or well tried to as the man swept her up in her arms and held her against his chest. She squirmed and jerked her body around, trying to free herself. The stab wasn't enough to stop him, as he'd been stabbed by far worse than a small ice dagger. She hissed as he once again apologized to her, begging her to not make this hard for herself. She refused to let them take her, using the dirtiest trick she remembered Yondu teaching her.

Volstagg grunted as she kicked him hard in the groin, choking out, "Who taught you that?

"The Ravagers," she responded, dealing him the same hit again, this time also being able to push his arms off of her. She flew up into the air, giving him a swift kick in the face on the way up. "Now, leave because I am not going back to Asgard."

Skadi's warning wasn't heard as she noted that Volstagg and Fandral weren't alone. She let out a flabbergasted sound as she saw the last member of the Warriors Three, Hogun approaching them, heading towards Peter and Fandral. She knew that her boyfriend would barely stand a chance without his blasters against Fandral, let alone Hogun. She swooped down towards them, grasping Peter with her hands, hooking her arms under his armpits and nearly giving him whiplash as she flew them away from the three as quickly as she could.

She only got so far before she felt something wrapped around her feet, causing her to drop from the air, along with Peter. They both landed to the ground with a thunk, Skadi landing on top of her boyfriend before being forcefully dragged backwards from whatever was wrapped around her ankles. She looked backwards to see it was a rope with a ball like weight tied to the end of it, making it lock in place around her. Skadi followed the trail and saw that it was Hogun who'd been holding it. He'd stopped dragging her, letting the Warriors Three make their way towards her. She didn't hesitate, forming a knife out of ice and started to hurriedly cut the rope. It wasn't cutting fast enough, causing her to curse out.

Peter snapped out of his daze from falling. The Terran looked around, seeing her stuck and quickly jolted up and raced towards her. He cursed out himself, wondering what was taking the others so long. He crouched down beside her once he reached her, thanking himself for always carrying a pocket knife on him. In one short swoop he cut her free of the restraint, taking her hand and pulling her up. The two started running, heading towards the busy streets hoping to lose them in the crowds. It felt just like the old days, with them running away to avoid being caught after stealing something; this city was just bad luck apparently.

Peter held onto her hand tightly, determined to not lose her in the crowds, not caring that he rudely was pushing them through it. He wasn't about to let them rip her away from him. Skadi and Peter ignored the shouts of the citizens as they pushed them out of their way, using them almost as a shield in hopes of the Three not being able to reach them. They're breath was heavy, the minds racing and their nerves were erratic.

"Stop!" Skadi shouted, causing Peter to look back to her, unsure why she'd shouted.

Skadi jerked him back without another word, causing him to stumble to stand towards the back of her, confused and angry that she made him stop running. She forced him to let go of her hand, raising her own and quickly formed a barrier of thick ice in front of them from the ground up a few feet just as a woman leapt down from a surrounding building. Skadi had been looking around, even looking above to see if help was on the way and had seen the shadow of the woman running above on the rooftops. Her sword was drawn and would've sliced through Peter if Skadi hadn't pulled him back. The woman grunted as the sword hit the ice, causing it to crack only slightly.

Holding one hand up to keep the barrier strong, Skadi used her free hand to push Peter back onto the ground before using it to smash through the ice and shoot a blast at the woman. The woman was thrown backwards but quickly got up, charging back at Skadi. The princess barely dodged the strike to her head the woman had swung her way. Instead the sword swiped right through her braid, cutting her hair. The braid came apart, her hair now messily resting unevenly at her shoulders. Peter gaped at the close call moving to grab Skadi but was once again pushed by her harder back. Skadi formed another, thicker barrier, knowing the woman did that purposely. She'd never aim to kill, just aim to push Skadi to her limits.

"Sif stop! Please listen to me," Skadi pleaded, dodging another hit, but lead her away from Peter.

Peter wanted to go after them but saw that he now had his own issues to deal with; he'd noted the Warriors Three pushing their way through the sea of people, the woman having given away their position. The crowd of people parted like the red sea, knowing that something was up after realizing that the Star-lord and Skadi were the two running through the streets. Peter now stood in direct view of the Three. Gulping as he saw the stupid mustache man smirking at him, tauntingly. Peter simply clenched his fist knowing that he'd fight his hardest regardless of the odds.

Skadi gasped as the hilt of Sif's sword was jammed into her stomach, causing her to lose her breath. She staggered backwards, tripping over her own feet as Sif swiped her sword down towards them. Sif wore an amused smile, knowing that she was being harsh but the girl deserved it after giving the boys a hard time. Sif was confused as to why the girl didn't want to go with them. When the All-Father called them into his throne room this morning and told them that after all these years he'd finally found his daughter, Sif was the first to eagerly offer to go retrieve her and bring her home. She was ecstatic and couldn't wait to see the princess, but now she was just confused at why she was making such a fuss with them.

"Sif, please I don't want to fight you." Skadi pleaded as she landed on her bottom in a huff. "Let me explain-,"

"There is nothing to explain," Sif said, retracting her sword knowing that the girl wouldn't fight her any longer. Skadi knew that she'd stand no chance against her; Sif was the one who taught her everything she knew about combat back on Asgard. "We are here to finally bring you home, why do you resist?"

"Because I can't just leave!" Skadi said sadly but forcefully, trying to get her to see reason. "I can't go back home, I'm happy here, I don't want to go back."

"You sound like a child. You can't just push aside your duties, you're father misses you so much, so much has happened since you've been gone." Sif nearly shouted. Skadi had no idea how much her people needed her.

"My father doesn't miss me, he wanted to send me off!" Skadi barked, standing up quickly, feeling herself grow irritated. In her anger she shot out another blast, Sif easily moving aside from it.

"I do not lie. You're all he has left, you must come home!" Sif pleaded, moving to sheath her sword, but she heard the sound of one being unsheathed from behind her and quickly tossed her body around.

Skadi was too distracted by Sif's words to have even noticed the green assassin sneaking up behind Sif. She watched as both of their swords clashed, both locked in a narrow stare down. Gamora let out a yell, pushing Sif back with her sword. The Asgardian warrior was intrigued, wondering who this woman thought she was, attacking an Asgardian and thinking she'd get away with it with her life. Rolling her eyes, Gamora didn't let Sif have the chance to fight back, already swinging her sword at her again.

Skadi watched as the two were now locked in battle, both woman being evenly matched. She turned to look back at Peter knowing that Gamora could handle Sif on her own. The princess smiled when she saw that Peter was okay. In fact, he was more than okay. Rocket and Drax stood near him, Mantis and Groot staying on the ship as they called the Nova Core for backup. The small raccoon threw Peter his blasters before reaching to grab his own big gun from his back. Drax was the first to run off into action after Peter twirled his blasters in his fingers, making sure to tell Fandral that they were in for it now.

Drax bellowed, gripping onto his knives tightly as he charged at Volstagg, determined to take down the biggest of the three. He was surely the only one qualified to handle such a person. The two heavy weights met, Drax swiping his knives out, nearly slicing his neck. But Volstagg saw that move coming, along with most of the Destroyers moves. The grey tattooed man was a strong opponent, Volstagg would admit but he was also a predictable one. He grabbed the axe that was resting down at his hip, swiping it up as well, narrowly missing the Destroyer's stomach.

"So you couldn't keep yourself out of trouble could ya'?" Rocket shouted, shooting like a manic towards Hogun and Fandral, forcing the two Asgardian's to take cover behind a food venter stall. "Ya' welcome by the way for coming and save your sorry ass."

"Really not the time," Peter hissed, letting loose on the stall Fandral was hiding behind, wanting to make this asshole pay. "Keep firing, I'm gonna get Skadi to the ship and we're getting the hell out of here."

Rocket nodded as Peter moved to go grab his girlfriend and head to the Benatar. He was surprised though to see her making her way towards were Fandral and Hogun were hiding. He blinked, watching her walk into the range of fire without a care in the world. Rocket stopped firing as he noticed as well, cursing at her to get out of the way. She ignored him though, as she let her eyes slip into the back of her skull, letting them glow as she felt power rushing through her veins.

Fandral came out from his hiding spot first, stating out loud how he wouldn't hurt her, she just had to come with them. Smirking as a reply, Skadi felt cold as she raised her hands up towards the sky, a harsh wind beginning to blow around her. The stalls around the area were nearly blown away and the onlookers were slightly pushed back from the force. Lifting herself up from the ground, she jetted towards him in a blink of an eye, shoulder checking him to the ground with such a force, Fandral felt that it had been her eldest brother who dealt it.

Hogan moved to grab her while her back was to him but she reacted to fast much to everyone's shock. She gripped his arm just as it was about to reach her own, using the momentum to fling him backwards into Volstagg. Interrupting the fight between Volstagg and Drax, Hogan knocked the redhead down to the ground in a heap.

Letting herself fall to the ground, cracking the pavement where she landed, she shot out ice through the crack. It trailed towards each of them, freezing them in their spots. Skadi made it so the damage wouldn't be permanent but they wouldn't be moving anywhere anytime soon. Her actions caused Sif to become distracted, cursing that her fellow warriors let themselves be captured so easily, but at the same time raised her eyebrow at Skadi's work.

Sif hissed soon after, her disappointment towards them was quickly felt about herself as she felt her sword be torn out of her grasp by the green woman. She looked up to see the woman holding her sword with one hand while pointing her own close to her neck. Raising her hands up in defeat, Sif surrendered just as she saw ships and what appeared to be officers rushing to them from the sky and ground.

"Who's the dumb one now?" Peter taunted Fandral, walking over to him.

"That would still be you," Fandral rolled his eyes right back, slightly shivering.

Peter glared at him, letting him have the last word since the Nova Core were here and already heading towards them. Peter moved out of the way, allowing one of the Officers to place cuffs and a collar on Fandral. Smirking, Peter watched as Skadi allowed her ice to melt once they were all ready to be transported to the holding cells. He saw how her face looked conflicted as her eyes followed her old friends being led away.

"You okay?" He asked her, putting an arm around her waist. Pulling her to his side and giving a short but sweet kiss to her forehead, Peter looked down at her with a soft smile, "They won't be able to take you away now."

Skadi frowned, freeing herself from his hold without a word. She walked past her friends and straight towards the Nova Officers sealing her friends up in the back of a transport ship. Asking to be able to ride with them so that she could be there with them as they were booked. The officer, not knowing the full situation agreed, knowing it was better to not say no to a Guardian of the Galaxy.


	5. Tell Me Why Everything Turned Around

**an. chapter five is here :) also, far from home was ****absolutely**** amazing! I've seen in twice already and part of me now wants to write a spiderman/oc fic now... **

**anyways, on with the story **

_Chapter 5: __Tell Me Why Everything Turned Around_

It'd been a week since the Warriors Three and Sif were captured and arrested by the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Core. They'd been forced to stay in the high security cells in the Nova base at the Xandarian capital. At first they were all unsure on how to handle them, the Nova Core never having arrested Asgardians, besides Skadi, before. The Asgardians surprisingly seemed well behaved, not giving their guards a hard time besides calling them all weak mortals.

The Guardians soon found themselves being put to work by Nova Prime. They were back at it, planning a new mission after Nova Prime revealed that their spies found the last few outposts of the nearly defeated Kree Purists. Gamora soon found herself, Peter and Rocket spending hours upon hours in Nova Prime's war room with her top generals and lieutenants going over strategies.

Skadi didn't sit in on them, having never really doing so ever anyway to begin with. Instead she opted on spending her days down in the cells, watching the Asgardians from the security deck. Mostly she'd be alone but after the first few days she found herself being joined by Drax, Gamora wishing to be able to go herself but was unable to, so she prompted the Destroyer to keep an eye out on the girl. Even before Gamora had, Peter had pulled him aside one morning, asking to go along with her as well, seeing as with him being the leader of the Guardians he couldn't get out of Nova Prime's constant meetings. As a member of this family, a duty the Destroyer took quite seriously, he knew that he'd have to take it upon himself to watch over her even before Gamora or Peter had approached him.

At first she wanted to be alone, annoyed as he just stood quietly next to her for hours. He'd never speak just stand there, eyes drilling into the screens as he too watched every movement the prisoners made. It wasn't until today, a week after the four had been locked up did Skadi say something to the Destroyer.

"You don't have to be here, you know?" Skadi rolled her eyes as he just grunted as his response, his arms still crossed against his chest. Skadi shook her head, not understanding why he still stood with her every day. "Then, why are you here?"

Drax merely shrugged, barely giving her a second glance as she turned in her chair to get a better look at him. He continued to be silent, driving a nerve in Skadi. To him, it was quite obvious as to why he was here and he didn't understand how she couldn't see that. They were all worried about her ever since the Asgardians tried snatching her up. She hadn't really said much about it, but they all knew she was terrible at keeping things bottled up for too long.

Skadi moved her attention back to the screens, deciding to not let Drax distract her anymore. She didn't understand why he had to be so frustrating sometimes. Letting out a drawn out sigh, rubbing her forehead roughly, she could feel another headache coming on.

She mumbled, "Okay, don't answer that then."

Drax laughed, finding her amusing. She had always needed constant confirmation and direction for everything he had learned over the years. She could never just let things be and see what happened. Drax on the other hand had no problem with sitting and waiting, not needing everything spelt out to him. He could pick up easily on why people did the things they did.

His laughter died down shortly, growing serious again. He shifted slightly, letting his arms rest down at his sides as he turned to face her now, "I am here because we are family."

Picking up on what he meant from that, Skadi smiled sheepishly, feeling slightly bad for being so short with him. It was true, they were family and she knew in the back of her head that that was why he was here, but without verbal confirmation it drove her mind crazy. She should've known though as Drax had become a short of father figure to almost everyone in the Guardians. It was in his nature to be fatherly, and Skadi could only imagine how great of a father he was too his daughter years and years ago. He was always there for them in their times of need.

When rumors began to spread a while ago about Gamora's father beginning to stir about in the galaxy again, Drax stood up with her at night, letting her eventually open up and vent to him when she got comfortable talking about it out loud. And there was when Peter finally accepted his advice on relationship stuff, granted a lot of it was terrible but some of it was surprisingly pretty good. And without Drax, they all doubted Mantis would've integrated well into life in space. Drax knew how to explain how things worked to her in a way that she could understand, whereas everyone else kind of would just get frustrated and give up.

"I just don't know how they found me," Skadi groaned, knowing that it'd be best to talk about her thoughts. Drax was the perfect person to talk to. He wasn't like Peter and Gamora were they'd instantly get worried and fret over her like she was some fragile thing. Drax was a good listener and he was harsh in a sense were he had no filter so what he'd say was always true.

"After all these years, why now? Why not a month ago? A year ago or when I first got my memories back or even before that?" Skadi questioned, placing a hand on her hip as she motioned to the screens. "And yesterday, I saw my brother. I thought I was seeing stuff because I was hungry but come on, I think I see him and not even like twenty four hours later these guys show up?" She looked at him, with wide eyes, huffing in frustration.

"And Sif, she said something. She said my father miss's me, which for one, is a lie. I was a constant nuisance to him as a child. I never listened, I was worse than my brothers. I drove him so crazy he was so eager to get rid of me that he was just willing to send me off to someone he didn't even know!" Skadi spat bitterly, knowing that she'd never let that go. Continuing on with her rant, Skadi shook her head, pointing at the screen that showed Sif. "But Sif, she said I was all my father had left which makes no sense to me. I'm not all he has, he has my brothers, my mother unless-, I don't want to even begin to think what she meant by that."

"Ask them," Drax said simply, after taking a moment to think about what she told him. He didn't see what the issue was. Whenever Drax wanted to know something, he'd ask and most likely get an answer. He looked to her, "They are right there."

"I know, but-,"

"This is not a matter about buts," Drax cut her off, his deep voice echoing in the room. "If this is troubling you as much as I can see it is, you must take the situation into your own hands and do what you feel is right. When my wife and daughter had been taken away from me, I did at first dwell on buts for far too long before I saw that I had to seek out their killer and avenge them. " Drax spoke with an even tone, causing Skadi too watch him seriously.

"I don't want to go down there though," She almost whined, not wanting to admit that she was afraid of whatever awaited her if she went down. If she could just ignore it a little longer, then everything would stay the same, right? .

"I shall go with you then." Drax smiled at her. Without another word he began to head towards the door, not really giving her a chance to say no. "I will be right behind you."

Drax had been standing closely behind her, true to his word, as Skadi quickly found herself standing at the door leading into the cells. The walk down there had been nothing but a blur, her heart racing and pumping that she was sure even Drax could hear it from his place in front of her. She could barely hear what he said to the guards, but whatever threat he made worked, seeing that the Nova Officers were letting them walk into the cell block without question.

Drax took a step behind her, letting her go in first as the doors slide open. The swish of the doors gained the attention of the Asgardians in the cells inside alongside with snapping Skadi out of the haze she found herself stuck in once again. Trying her best to put her brave face on, she held her head up high, not caring if she would buy the fake confidence more than the others did. She walked deeper into the room, her heavy boots clanking against the floor, having changed in her normal attire now that they were in the capital and their artificial air worked ten times better, surprisingly.

She stopped when she was in the center of the room, Drax staying off to the side to give her the space she needed but also give her the support she needed as well. Her mouth felt dry as she tried to figure out what she wanted to say first. She hadn't even given herself time to think of where to start, as Drax had to quickly lead her out of the room without a second thought. Turning to face Sif, knowing that she had always more so been the leader of the group even if the Three would never admit it.

"How did my father find me, now?"

"We are not sure," Sif spoke, softly as she moved closer to the bars to speak to her closely. She eyed the Destroyer, wanting him to leave the room so she could speak to her princess privately but figured he was the only reason why she was down here, after a week of them being here and decided to not press that matter for now.

"He called us to the throne room at first daylight and told us he'd finally found you. He then sent us to this planet by the Bifrost. He tasked us to bring you back home but you didn't make that easy for us." Sif smirked, letting her show her pride. "You've grown stronger over the years. I didn't expect you to be able to take them down. Granted, I can't be too impressed for you still couldn't defeat me, letting that green woman cut in."

Skadi smiled softly at Sif's compliment turned minor insult. She turned to face the Warriors Three, apologizing for fighting them. "You don't understand though, I can't go back. I have family here now, I have a job to help defend the galaxy. I can't just go back home and play dress up, go to stupid parties, and get married off to some asshole of my father's choosing. So much has happened and I just can't leave."

"Much has happened on Asgard as well, princess." Fandral piped up, sitting up from his cot. He moved to the edge of his cell as she turned to face him. "Asgard needs its princess."

"Asgard has two princes, it's been doing fine without me all these years," She rolled her eyes; Fandral had always been one for dramatics. His eyes widened, darting to his comrades as her words apparently caused an unease between the four Asgardians. Skadi eyed them all unsettled by their response or lack thereof. "Asgard is fine, right?"

"A lot has happened since you've been gone, it might be better if we spoke privately," Sif spoke up, motioning her eyes to Drax.

Skadi narrowed her eyes at her, her nerves growing as she thought of every worse case scenario of what could have happened back at home. Her heart raced as she turned to Drax knowing that she would break down if he wasn't here. Well, on second thought she felt like she would break down even with him here. Shaking her head, so pointed to the Destroyer.

"He stays," she said willing her voice to stay somewhat strong. "Over the years, he's become my family and whatever you have to say can and will be said with him here."

Sif nodded, knowing it wasn't here place to question the princess. She let out a sigh, wishing that Skadi had complied and let them bring her home so that way Odin would've been the one to have to explain it all to her. Sif didn't even know where to begin, the last few years being nothing but chaotic. Sif was a warrior, she should be able to deal harsh news to someone. But she couldn't, she couldn't bear to be the one who crash Skadi's world apart.

Fandral could see this, and closed his eyes solemnly before opening his mouth, "You are now the heir to the throne."

"What?" Skadi turned to him, confused. "But Thor, Loki?"

"Thor gave up his claim to the throne. It's a bit of a long story that your father should really be the one to explain, but last we saw him he was going to Earth." Fandral said, his eyes showing how she really shouldn't press the matter further.

She nodded, unsure if she should take his word for it or not. She couldn't imagine what could have possibly have had happened to make her brother renounce his claim. Growing up, the throne was all Thor ever talked about wanting. It was the only thing he ever trained for, working as hard as he could to become on par with their father. It was also what Thor and Loki always fought over too. They both wanted to be King, but Loki was younger and even so Thor was clearly more favored by their father to take his place on the throne.

Thinking of this, Skadi frowned. The only reason why she'd be heir to the throne would be if Loki wasn't around. He'd be next after Thor and Skadi knew that nothing would make Loki give up being the heir to the throne. It was all he ever wanted but knew he could never have. He'd always watched Thor in the shadows, learning what he had to just in case Thor couldn't take his father's place. Or, in the possible case that Odin deemed Thor unworthy for the throne and decided Loki was fit. It wasn't an impossible thought, Skadi would always tell Loki; their brother had always been drunk on his ego.

"And what of Loki? He'd have more claim over me. He would be next after Thor." Skadi frowned, not ready for the answer to her question.

"Loki, he's dead. I am so sorry." Fandral frowned, knowing that she wasn't there to see everything he did. She didn't know the person he'd become. She still saw him as her hero, the boy who'd sneak her away from her lessons, who'd lighten up her day, the person who was her closet friend and not the monster he'd become.

"Wha-aat?" Skadi shook, choking back a sob that suddenly hit her. She didn't bother to try and stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks. She felt her body go numb as she took a step back from the cells, closing her eyes tightly. Stammering over almost every word, her eyes glowed as she reopened them and glared at Fandral. "You're lying. Loki isn't de-aad,"

"I am so sorry princess," He repeated, wanting to reach out to her and comfort her. Fandral knew she'd want to know what had happened and decided to tell her what she needed to know and leave out the rest. "He died a hero. He saved Asgard; we'd been attacked by the Dark Elf's, they came looking for the Aether. They managed to get past Heimdall and during the attack they, - they killed the Queen. Again I am so sorry. Loki and Thor set out to avenge her and they did, Loki didn't make it in the process though."

Skadi stared down at the floor, never crying before while her powers were charged. The tears falling from her eyes turned to mini icicles, shattering as they hit the ground. She could barely see straight, feeling the room around her begin to spin. Taking deep breaths as the world around her seemed to fall apart, she could sense Drax approaching her, placing his hand gently on her shoulder as if he was trying to keep her steady.

Skadi wanted to shrug him off but didn't feel like she had the energy too. She just cried, thinking about Fandral's words. It couldn't be true, her brother and mother couldn't be gone. And even so, if they were who was Thor do just abandoned his people and now he was where? Earth? Why would he be on Earth? Letting out an angered cry, Skadi couldn't help but think she wasn't any better. Who was she to judge him when he was there during this and she'd been off traveling the galaxy? She was no better than him.

Finding it in herself, she pushed Drax's hand off of her shoulder gently. He looked at her cautiously unsure what she was going to do, but knew from the look on her face that she was going to do something. The Destroyer moved back to her, seeing the rage taking over her being. It was all too familiar to him. It was the same look that he had the day Ronin killed his wife and child.

"Skadi," He spoke, hoping to snap her out of it.

Skadi didn't acknowledge him, instead clenching her fist and slowly moving away from him. Heading to the door, without a second glance back into the room, Skadi's lips were in a thin line. She felt a few more tears roll down her cheeks as she pried the door open and walked out of the room. The long hallway was spinning as all she could think of was how she desperately need fresh air. Walking a few feet further, ignoring the looks of the surrounding Nova Officers, she found herself unable to move any further as her body felt numb and she felt nauseous.

Drax had left the cell block, seeing her leaning against the wall as if for support. She had her eyes closed, trying to steady her vision and breathing. Drax shot the officer's dangerous looks, silently threatening them to get lost. When the hallway was clear, Drax moved closer to the princess, placing his hand once again on her shoulder. This time she didn't push him away, instead she nearly collapsed in his arms, finally letting out the sob she'd been trying to hold in. The Destroyer let out a pained sigh, feeling his chest grow wet from her tears. Without a complaint, he just let her cry, knowing the pain she felt more than anyone.


	6. Dream Dream, Even For a Little While

**an. So that hall H panel :D. I am so excited for Thor 4! I'm not a huge fan of Jane Foster but I love Taika and can't wait to see what gloriousness he brings us again lol. **

**Anyway thank you to everyone who either favorited or added this to their follows. Also thank you to Arianna Le Fay for reviewing as always, you're reviews make me smile :) **

**Let me know what you guys are most excited for in Phase 4 and what you think about this chapter in the reviews. **

_Chapter 6: __Dream Dream, Even For a Little While_

Skadi had been sitting in the same spot she had been for hours now. She'd been in the co-pilot seat, her legs thrown lazily over the arm rest while she stared out to the busy streets below in the nightlight. From the platform the Benatar set on at the Nova base, Skadi could see all of downtown, remembering the day the Guardian's had first met as she saw the fountain and walkway they had all fought near. She hummed quietly to the music playing off in the background, it bringing her slight peace.

She could hear footsteps climbing up the ladder, sighing as she knew that she'd now be forced to talk. Drax had surely told the other's what had happened as soon as they got back from their work, Skadi thought without a doubt. Or actually, on second thought, Skadi decided that Drax probably hadn't. If it was anyone it was probably Mantis. The girl could sense Skadi's broken state without even having to reach out and touch her as her and Drax entered the Benatar hours ago. She had asked what had happened but was meet with silence as Drax led her to sit at the dining table.

Eventually Skadi made her way up to where she sat now, and could hear Drax finally explaining to Mantis what had happened. Wanting to drown them out, the blonde put on her boyfriend's Zune, finding comfort as the music began to pour through the speakers of the ship. Groot had even joined her for a little bit, silently wanting to check up on her before retreating back to his room.

Frowning, she knew it was Peter as he began to hum along to James Taylor's _Fire and Rain_, letting out a heavy grunt as he took a seat in his captain's chair. His mind was tired from the day he just had and wanted nothing more than to relax and listen to his Zune, and possibly cuddle. Not saying anything, he let the music continue to play, staring out the window like Skadi had been. As he did so her attention was no longer on the world outside instead it was on him. He looked so tired, not having slept much since their night back from their one night trip. He'd been upset that it ended the way it had, he was over the constant day to day craziness like she had been.

As the song began to change, he caught onto her staring and turned to face her, giving her a soft smile. Was he waiting for her to say something, she wondered? Or did neither Mantis nor Drax spill the beans on her and he was clueless. Surely he knew, because she looked like she'd been through a ringer and if he hadn't known, he would've been barking down her throat to find out why.

"_When I met you in the restaurant you could tell I was no debutant," _Peter sang along to Blondie, knowing it was one of Skadi's personal favorite artists on the Zune, close to Fleetwood Mac and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Peter wasn't that crazy into the more _rocker_ music on the Zune, prefering the music that reminded him of the songs on his old mixtapes but he loved how into music Skadi had gotten after having more options.

He bobbed his head, along to the music, earning a short, quiet giggle from Skadi. Sinking into his seat and gripping onto the arm rest, he finally addressed her, "How are you feeling?"

"So they did say something," She nodded to herself, "Who was it? Drax or Mantis?"

"Groot actually," Peter nodded back, looking back outside the window. He chuckled to himself, slightly remembering the interaction.

He'd gotten home and wanted nothing more than to relax and instantly headed to his room, playing off the weird looks Mantis and Drax shared with each other as the three Guardians made it home. Gamora instantly questioned what had happened, while Rocket just groaned, too burnt out to listen to her nagging. Peter had made it too his room, already shrugging off his jacket as he opened the door. He walked in ready to toss the clothing across the room but halted, seeing the teenaged tree standing near their dresser, fiddling with something.

Peter titled his head, slightly peeved that the teenager was in his room without his permission. He dropped his jacket to the floor, crossing his arms against his chest, "What are you doing? Trying to steal some units or something?"

"I am groot."

"Dude, seriously, watch your mouth." Peter huffed, moving deeper into the room to see what he was doing. He saw that he was making some short of flower wreath, like he used to do when he was a cute little toddler. He'd make them and give them to either of the girls when they were either grumpy or sad, or just in overall bad moods. "Who's this for?"

"I am groot, I am groot." He sneered, annoyed that Peter hadn't been around all day when he should've been.

"Again, language and why is this for Skadi?" He rolled his eyes, but instantly grew concerned, wondering what he missed. "Where is she?"

And that's when Groot told him everything and Peter wanted to punch a wall. He cursed himself for not being able to be the one to be there for her back in the cells. He was grateful Drax had taken care of her but was still mad at himself. As he approached the flight deck, he knew she'd be a mess once he heard the music playing quietly around the room. Though much to his surprise, she wasn't has bad as he though she would've been. Granted it was probably because he missed the worst of it.

"He's making you one of his wreaths." Peter informed her, nodding back down towards the direction of the stairs. Peter watched her smiling to herself at this, silently thanking Groot for still being his true caring self. "I'm sorry I wasn't here today,"

"It's okay, I know you were busy." She frowned, letting there be a silence between them for a moment before turning to look at him again.

"I'm so sorry about your brother, and your mother. I know how much you loved and missed them, I know what it feels like. I already told Gamora on my way up here that I'm not going with her and Rocket tomorrow and I'm staying here with you." Peter informed her, sitting up in his seat.

"I was going to go back down there tomorrow." She said bluntly, not really wanting to dance around what had been on her mind all day. Peter bit his lip, not really like the idea, but didn't say anything, seeing as she kept talking. "All day I'd been beating myself up. I wasn't there; I didn't get to say goodbye. I got to say goodbye to Yondu, but I didn't get to say goodbye to my own mother or brother and I hate this feeling."

She looked at him deeply, hoping he'd understand her train of thought. Peter didn't seemed to have any objections, or he'd just been good at hiding them, as he stood quiet and let her continue.

"I don't want to, but I feel like I have too. I've been thinking it over all day and I just feel like I need to go back, not permanently, I would never want to but I need to say goodbye and let my father know I'm okay, and just see what I've missed."

"You want to go back? Back to Asgard," Peter said quietly, secretly hoping she'd never want to go back. He had been terrified that she'd go back and realize for some reason that she'd rather stay there then be with him. He was afraid of losing her forever. What if she found out that she preferred to be treated like the princess she really was and wanted to be pampered, and given all the things he knew he couldn't give to her?

"I've been putting it off for so long. What if I had went home as soon as I got my memories back? Who knows I could've possibly seen my mother and Loki one last time but I was being a child and was too afraid." She ranted, blighting herself.

She noted how Peter stood silent, his face unreadable. He didn't seem mad but he didn't seem happy either. It wasn't like she was telling him that she was leaving him forever. If he had told her that he wanted to go back to earth to see the remaining family he had left, she would be supportive of him. She was hopeful that he'd feel the same way but there was something about his silence that told her otherwise.

Instead of possibly putting her foot in her mouth, she stopped talking, waiting for him to say something. Letting the music overtake them, Peter and Skadi just stared out into the night life from afar. Peter knew that her mind was already made up, regardless of what he said or if he disagreed, and figured it'd be better to just let her do what she felt was right. He was nervous though, not only from his concerns from before but from knowing that he most likely wouldn't be able to go with her. He didn't like the thought of her being so far away and at a place where he wouldn't be able to get to her if she needed him.

"How long are you looking at staying there for?" Pete questioned, finally finding his voice even though it cracked as he spoke.

"I don't know," She shrugged, looking at him. "No more than a week. I don't want to spend that much time with my father. I just, I just got to go see it."

"A week," He shook his head, "That's the longest we'd ever been apart for like the entire time we've known each other. You know I'm going to be worrying myself out of my mind over you while you're gone?" He looked at her with watery eyes, feeling his chest grow heavy with anxiety.

"I know, I'll be worried too. Gamora's surely going to make you guys keep working, and I won't be there." Skadi frowned, knowing that anything could happen while she was separated from them.

"Hmm," Peter hummed, in response feeling his mouth go try. Tapping his fingers against the armrest he simply frowned, "I'll talk to Prime tomorrow morning, say that it was all a misunderstanding, try and get your friends free so that why you can head out, the sooner you leave the sooner you'll be back."

Skadi watched Peter stand up sluggishly. He walked over to her, kissing her head before excusing himself, saying he was going to go tell Gamora about the change of plans. His demeanor showed that he wasn't okay with Skadi's decision and it upset her, knowing that they usually always agreed on big things like this. She didn't want to be mad at him, but couldn't help but be slightly. If the shoes were swapped, then she knew she'd be supportive. She hated using this as an example but back with Ego she had been, even though it was foolishly so, but she had been beyond supportive of his decision.

Thinking back with Ego now though had made her think twice. Was this going end up like another Ego? Was she leading herself into a stupid trap by making such a rash decision? No, she couldn't be. She'd learned a lot since then and Asgard was home, she knew exactly what she was getting herself into, right? Letting out a loud groan of stress and frustration, Skadi let herself sink deeper into her seat allowing the music to take over her thoughts again.


	7. I've Got To Follow

**an: so ****excuses****, excuses, life has been crazy lately sorry i've made you wait a bit for an update lol. Con season is hear and I've been rushing to finish my costumes while working nonstop. BUT I finally have some time to sit down and update today. Not sure when I'll be able to post again because I have two cons in a row approaching but I'm going to try to possibley update another chapter tonight? Maybe, not too sure yet. **

**Anywho, thank you to everyone whose still reading and added this to their favorites/following list! Let me know about what you think is going to happen when Skadi gets to Asgard in the reviews :) **

**Review reply-**

**Arianna Le Fay: I thought about having one of the Guardians go with her but for the events I want to happen I wanted her to go off on her own because this will lead directly into Infinity War/Endgame, which I've already have set in stone with what I want to happen lol. **

_Chapter 7: I've Got To Follow_

It had been done by a lot of convincing on Gamora's part, as Peter's begs weren't enough to get Nova Prime to release the four Asgardian's from their cells. The fight had apparently caused a lot more property damage than they all realized. Nova said that they should make the Guardian's pay for the damages but due to their long standing working relationship, they'd look it over but Nova Prime wasn't happy about it. Especially after finding out they'd been lied to all these years after Gamora revealed that Skadi was actually the princess of Asgard; that would've been information worth knowing, Nova Prime insisted angrily. Regardless, the Asgardian's were freed, and Skadi was all packed for her trip.

The four Asgardian's waited a few feet away from the Guardians and the few officers Prime ordered to oversee the departure. They watched as their princess nervously said her goodbyes to her team, trying not to rush her but knew Odin would already have their heads for making him wait longer then they originally planned.

Standing in front of Drax, Skadi gave him a tight hug, thanking him for everything he'd done over the last few days. He wished her luck, knowing he'd see her soon anyways but still knew how nervous the girl was about this trip.

"This reminds me of the time my Kamaria was heading off to the Warrior's Path, a tradition of my people, where every child must leave their home and make a perilous journey to the training grounds." He told her as they separated. "You will be fine."

Smiling, remembering Drax talking about his own time at his people's training grounds, she moved onto Mantis and Groot next, giving them both quick hugs. Groot had the wreath he made in his hands, and handed it over to her. He told her to bring it with her because he _worked hard on it and didn't want Drax to ruin it._ Skadi snorted, not knowing why Groot thought Drax would always be the one to mess up his stuff, but nodded, taking the small wreath and placing it in her side bag carefully.

Rocket stood next to Groot, his arms crossed against his chest and his face looking like he was so far from being amused by this. Skadi simply gave him a smile, knowing he wasn't a hugger or really into any type of display of affection. Rocket rolled his eyes, as she awkwardly shifted.

"Why are we all acting like she's going away for forever?" He sneered, shrugging his shoulders. "You're coming back in like a week, this is stupid. Have fun at fairy land, I'll be waiting in the ship, getting' ready for yet another mission."

Gamora shook her head in annoyance at him, as he trailed away. Her smile was apologetic to Skadi even though she knew she didn't have to explain the raccoon's actions to her. The daughter of Thanos ignored Rocket, turning to fully look at her, noting how much she's grown since she first met her. Not much of a hugger either, she simply placed a caring hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tight.

Gamora knew she was apprehensive about this trip, and Gamora was for her as well but she knew that this was something she had to do. She was proud that Skadi had become brave enough to venture out on her own like this, knowing that if this had to be a decision she had to make four years ago than she would've chosen not to go. The whole Ego thing made her question herself and doubt herself; Gamora was happy that the girl who'd become like a sister to her was finally moving past that.

"Be careful," Gamora still warned, letting her fretfulness appear one last time. "But like Drax said, you'll be fine."

Skadi smiled at her, knowing that Gamora was right. All that was gonna happen was she was going to get lectured by her father, cry about her mother and Loki, sight see the kingdom and then come home. "I know, I know,"

Gamora let her go, knowing Peter was waiting to smother her one last time before they'd be separated. The pair already said their goodbyes last night and this morning but Peter felt as it still wasn't enough. He wanted to go with her but knew mortals weren't allowed on Asgard, Fandral made sure to remind him of that on the walk over here again. He also knew that he was needed here more.

He'd never realized how they'd always been attached to the hip for years and years until now. He already told her that she wasn't allowed to fall in love with any princes or lords while on Asgard, and that she had to come home in exactly a week, to which she laughed but promised she would.

Peter pulled her into one last hug, knowing that he was overreacting but didn't care. They kissed, trying to make it last as long as they could before pulling away. Peter caressed her cheek with a sigh,

"I love you," She said, trying to give him a reassuring smile, trying to brighten him up.

"I love you more," He replied, letting his hand fall. His hand fell down to his side with a sad look. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his Zune. Handing it over to her, she took it with a confused stare.

"I can't take this, what if something happens to it? Yondu gave this to you." She tried handing it back to him, not wanting to chance being the one to ruin the last thing they have of their old mentor. She sighed in frustration when he took it from her but shoved it in her side bag. "What about you? You can't go a week without it!"

"Rocket has clones of a bunch of songs on the ship, I'll be fine. I want you to take it," Peter insisted, putting his hands in his jacket pockets so she couldn't try and put it back in his hands.

"Okay," She sighed, zipping up her bag before going on her tiptoes to give him one more kiss. "I should go now." Turning to look at the rest of her teammates, Skadi started to back up as she spoke half seriously, and half jokily, "please be safe on the mission. I really don't want to come back here to find out you guys all died on me."

Drax looked offended, not understanding she was just messing around while Mantis just waved like a little child saying goodbye to a parent. Groot's attention was already on his tablet, trying to hide that he was actually going to miss her while she was gone. Gamora and Peter laughed, wishing her the same. Peter watched as she finally stood next to the other Asgardians, not quite sure how this Bifrost thing she told them about worked.

They'd picked an open air field for their pick up spot, not wanting to test Nova Prime further and damaging anything else once the Bifrost was called. Skadi hadn't used the Bifrost since she was a little girl and remembered the sick feeling it gave her and stood next to Fandral with a lopsided smirk. He looked down at her and chuckled, knowing she'd probably be sick afterwards.

Sif called out for the Bifrost to be opened once everyone was settled. Skadi could hear the bang of the doorway open, looking up to see the bright light come reaching down towards them from the skies. She knew that her teammates were properly concerned, not quite sure that this was exactly safe. But the thought of them slipped away as she felt the rays consume her and lift her up in to the air, before being zapped away up to Asgard.


	8. I Should Approach You With Caution

**an: so here we go, Skadi's finally on back on Asgard! I've can't wait for things to pick up now :) **

_Chapter 8: I Should Approach You With Caution_

Dreams didn't do Asgard justice. It was far more beautiful than any dream Skadi had ever imagined. The golden buildings shimmering in the shining skyline with lush giant mountains off behind them in the distance. Skadi had forgotten how breathtaking it truly was, taking it all for granted as a child. She felt her breath taken away from her, almost making her forget about what was awaiting her at the palace far off in the distance.

She would've kept staring in awe at what stood outside the awning of the watchers keep if a rough, edgy voice hadn't snapped her out of it. She turned around, seeing a bald man with two thick lined tattoos on his head in bulky body armor closing the gate to the Bifrost. She looked at him questionably, unsure who he was and why Heimdall wasn't the one holding the sword.

The man, seemingly understanding the look on her face looked frazzled himself, frantically trying to unsheathe the sword from its keyhole and bow to her at the same time. In his scramble he managed to bow but also let the sword clank to the ground, echoing throughout the room. The Warriors Three and Sif rolled their eyes at him, this seemingly was nothing new to them.

"You want to know why it took so long to find you; here is your answer." Fandral shook his head, trying to hide his annoyance by placing an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his side.

"What happened to Heimdall? Who's this?" Skadi scorned, unamused by the man who was now trying to pick up the sword but without grace.

"The name's Skurge your highness," The man, Skadi now knew was named Skurge said, bowing one more time. "I'm the new watcher, since Heimdall was fired for negligence of duty."

"What? And my father gave the job to you instead?" Skadi scrunched up her nose. Her father must be really losing it if this was Heimdall replacement. And also from the fact that Heimdall had to be replaced at all; what really did happen over all of these years?

Now it really did make sense as to why no one could have found her all these years. Maybe Loki did really go to get her and when she wasn't there anymore, he could never find her because of this Skurge guy. "How long have you been doing this?"

"About four years your highness," He said, looking around at the warriors nervously, bowing to her one more time.

"Just Skadi is fine." She kept her face scrunched up at him, not used to being called that or bowed to. Rocket had called her _your highness_ before but as a joke or well more of an insult and not at all in any form of seriousness. And there'd been a few times where Peter would have bowed to her, but again as a joke. Skadi guessed she wouldn't have minded it so much if he hadn't done after every time he addressed her.

Fandral began to lead her away from the mess of a watcher, unamused by his antics. Beginning their long walk across the rainbow bridge, Skadi tried pushing back thoughts of regret that she'd been trying to ignore since deciding to come here, trying to focus her attention on the city's skyline as it got closer and closer. Fandral had gone on explaining how elated her father will be now that she was back, also trying to get her mind off of the people she left behind.

Sif watched, knowing that Fandral was doing nothing but wasting his time seeing that it was obvious Skadi wasn't even paying attention to his words. The palace in the distance making her more nervous by the second. Sif took a few steps closer to her, giving her a gentle smile in hopes to get her to understand that she made the right choice.

It took longer than Skadi had hoped to reach the palace, having forgotten how annoying it was to cross the rainbow bridge. Once they crossed, they still had to walk through the streets of Asgard and through the awaiting eyes of its people. Luckily the All-father had horses waiting for them so the ride to the palace didn't take nearly as long as the walk from the bridge did. Skadi couldn't help but spend the time it did take looking around the streets with curious eyes, occasionally sparing a glance at the people who gathered the streets, excited about the return of their princess. Their happy faces made her feel slightly better about choosing to come back home.

She snapped back into a nerve wreaking stare as the palace gates came to view. Her breath quickening and heart thumping up to her ears. It was like she was panicking all over again. Or did she really stop panicking, she wondered. It wasn't until the gates opened did she realize she never stopped. The stairs up at the end of the court yard led right to the throne room, right to where her father was sure enough waiting for her. She felt her horse stop once they were all close enough to the stairs.

Volstagg had been the one to help her off her horse as he was also the one to help her up her horse. It'd been years since she'd ridden one and had silently wished it would be another couple of years until she'd have to ride one again. She hated how uncomfortable they were, and how bouncy the ride had been. She was so used to flying everywhere with her powers and with ships, and other far more technically advanced modes of transport.

She brushed her hair out of her face as her feet were placed on the ground. When Volstagg's hands left her waist, Skadi couldn't help but take in her appearance. Her father would surely disapprove; she had long abandoned her old Asgardian sense of style. She wasn't the cute little princess any longer, always wearing the fanciest dresses and had her hair styled in multiple braids. She now stood wearing her clunky big black buckled covered boots with her classic black beat up leather jacket. The rest of her outfit was nowhere near as modest compared to what a princess was expected to wear. She wore dark high waist tights and a see through black mesh crop top with a black tank top underneath. Her father would definitely not approve and that was partially why she had chosen this outfit.

Her feet smacked against the steps, her taking them each slowly as she dreaded getting any further. She thought she'd have at least some time to get settled before being throne straight into the lion's den. Her breath hitched as she saw two guards opening the large towering doors for her, revealing the inside of the throne room. She could see a figure sitting on the throne and knew that it was too late to turn back.

She couldn't continue to let herself regret coming here; it would only make her time here worse than she knew that it would be. Moving forward, she noted that her companions weren't following her and sighed. She'd have to face her father alone.

Walking into the room she let her eyes wander. It was just as beautiful as it had been when she was a child. The tall pillars of gold reaching up to the ceiling with carvings engraved on them and the colorful artwork that was painted on the ceilings let her nerves feel more at ease. It all felt welcoming to her, having spent the years with her memories back trying to remember what being home felt like. She pulled her attention back to her father as she noted that she was close to him now. The sound of his staff hitting against the floor snapped her back to look forward at him.

He was using his staff to help himself stand, slowly pulling himself up. His face looked stern, looking her over after all these years of trying to keep her image in his mind. She'd grown much since he'd last saw her. She was no longer the girl he last saw her as and clearly the galaxy had influenced her chose of appearance. He moved down from his throne, taking each step slowly, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He spent so many years searching for her, never knowing where she was.

"My daughter," He said softly once he came face to face with her. He took in her fearful look, wanting to make it go away. "I've missed you, I'm so glad you've finally come back home."

Skadi looked down, unsure if she'd actually missed him over the years. She'd always felt anger towards him whenever she thought back. She'd missed her mother, her brothers but they weren't here; it was only him. She bit her lip, knowing that he raised her to be respectful but then again Yondu raised her to stand up for herself and the only people who deserved respect were the ones who respected you.

"I came back because Fandral told me what happen to mother and Loki," She frowned, taking a step back. "But I'm not staying permanently."

Odin frowned, wishing that he could have been the one who told her first. He felt angry remembering that he gave them strict orders to simply retrieve her and bring her back to him, he didn't want them to tell her a word about what had happened over the years. It angered him enough that they got captured and couldn't return her to him in a timely manner. Sighing, he turned towards the side, facing one of the exits of the room. He ushered her to follow him.

"And what did they tell you," He asked, reaching the door and pushing it open to reveal one of the private courtyards and gardens.

"That Loki died because he and Thor went after the Dark Elf's for killing mother. And now Thor's on Earth or something like that." She said sadly taking in the outdoors and the peacefulness of it.

"And that was all?" Odin asked leading her in further. Skadi nodded, knowing that there was more to the story and that her father would tell her what really happened. Odin led her to a small fountain, the same one her and Loki used to spend time together a lot when they were younger. Loki would bring books and read to her for hours on end until their mother would call them in for dinner or bed.

Skadi frowned when her father took a seat on the edge of the fountain motioning for her to join him. Placing a hand on her knee he let out another long sigh, trying to find the right place to begin. He'd been planning what he'd say for years now but now that he saw her expecting eyes he wanted to through it all away and say something else entirely. But he knew he couldn't, he had to stick with what he originally planned to say.

"Your brother, Loki, he told me what he did, years after your escape; the guilt eventually getting to him after seeing how distressed your mother had become. He told me how he helped you escape all those years ago." Odin began looking out in the distance. "I was furious and demanded that he bring you back. He complied and he and Thor went to that planet he dropped you off at.

"Amora, that witch," Odin said with a sneer, "was there alone without you. She confessed that she had placed another spell on you, canceling out Loki's and taking away all of your memories. She sold you to the Kree. She said that that had been her plan the entire time, the whole reason why she agreed to help you and Loki, to help get revenge against the crown. You see, long ago, her father betrayed our people, back when we were at war with the frost giants and gave them details on our attacks. It wasn't until we won did I find out and I had him executed."

"So it was because of her, I ended with the Kree." Skadi said bitterly trying her hardest to remember and connect the pieces of what the long speech her father said, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

She remembered Amora being so kind to her back then. She took care of her, continued her magic lessons. Skadi remembered looking up to the sorceress and felt nothing but betrayal.

Clenching her fists she took a deep breath to try and calm herself before letting her powers take control over her. "Where is she now?"

"I had her executed." Odin said without emotion. "Your brother's wanted to go to war with the Kree, to get you back, but I didn't allow it."

Odin's voice sounded bitter as well, as if he was angry at that decision. In truth he was, he didn't understand why they never tore down every Kree settlement to get his daughter back. Odin had always said his reasoning behind it was because he wouldn't let innocence's suffer over the actions of a few. It was a decision his sons never agreed with and openly showed their frustration with.

"Heimdall couldn't find you because of that witch's magic and after years I had enough, who was he too watch over my people if he couldn't find you? So I trialed him for negligence but he escaped before I could start the trail. I found you by pure luck." Odin said looking at her up and down. "You've made quite a name for yourself, my dear, I would be lying if I said I wasn't proud."

Skadi frowned, looking down at his hand on her knee. She had so much more she wanted to ask not caring about him being proud or even how he found her anymore. Odin had his ways and she couldn't care about how he did things. She looked up at him, pushing his hand off of her, ready to get the answers she needed.

"You need to tell me what happened while I was gone," Skadi demanded, knowing that her father was trying to avoid the subject.

"You will want time to rest, you must be exhausted-,"

"No, I need to know now or else I'm going back to where you found me and I will not come back." Skadi spoke, harshly.

Odin sat back, running a hand over his beard, knowing he'd no longer be able to prolong the inevitable. Letting his hand fall to his lap and exhaled, "You deserve the truth, and I will tell you it but I promise you that you will not like it."

Skadi let out a deep breath, sitting back herself and getting comfortable as her father began to fill her in on everything she had missed out on while she was gone. It didn't take long for her to wish that she had never come back home and stay ignorant back with the Guardians. She dreamed of being back on the Benatar, being held with Peter as they swayed around to the music on his Zune.

**review reply-**

**Arianna Le Fay: I do ****intend**** to follow Infinity War/Endgame but there will be a few changes to different plot points and things I'll be adding that I'm excited about and hopefully you all will like :) **


	9. They Look So Radical

**an. So quick note, I updated my profile with a bunch of info about this series! I added tracklist's of the songs I use for each Vol, including this one so if you want any teasers for this you can look to that! Also I changed my username to my real name cause I was like eh, why not? but besides that thanks to Books-and-Cleverness-394 and Taffdog19943 for following!**

**Review Reply**

**Arianna Le Fay, yeaassss I have something planned that will really give her the title of goddess of winter. **

_Chapter 9: They Look So Radical_

Skadi had done many things over the past few days on Asgard that she indeed hadn't wanted to do ever but this, _oh this_, was the final straw. She'd been showcased by her father to all of Asgard, forced to wear dresses and have her hair be done up. She'd been forced to attend council meetings, be retaught all the rules and lessons she'd been taught as a girl and on top of it all her father would rarely let her out of his sight. But this, this was when Skadi would become the stereotypical spoiled princess Rocket would claim her to be and put her foot down.

"I am not wearing this."

Sif raised an eyebrow as the girl spoke from behind her dressing screen. She stood from her position leaning against the girl's wall, watching as the two hand maidens charged with dressing the princess were shooed away and out from behind the screen.

"It can't be that bad." Sif chuckled, knowing that this was just one of the many meltdowns she'd dealt with from Skadi over the past days. "You've worn every other dress you're father had made for you with _no _complaint,"

"I can sense you rolling your eyes." Skadi shook her head, knowing that Sif was being sarcastic. Skadi had complained about every dress she was forced to wear. "I just, I- ugh, why can't I wear pants? Why do you get to wear them and I don't."

Skadi stepped out from behind the screen, telling the hand maidens they were free to leave. She watched them leave hesitantly, knowing that their job wasn't done but couldn't say anything back to the princess. Skadi huffed, sitting down at her table and staring at herself in the mirror. She was almost unrecognizable, with her hair flowing down to her mid back in soft waves, her face clear of any make-up. The dress she wore was a light blue with golden embroidery in the fabric. The cut was low, showing a lot more cleavage than she normally did. The dress reached the ground, cascading down to her feet. Her arms were bare as the dress had no sleeves and dipped low down towards her back.

She felt beautiful but she also felt like this wasn't her. She didn't recognize the girl staring back at her in the mirror and knew that her friends wouldn't either if they were here. She'd been missing them more than anything over the last few days, each day growing to regret coming here more and more. She'd fall asleep nearly every night listening to the Zune. Her time was almost up no matter how much her father tried convincing her to stay.

She thought about making her trip a little bit longer though, if only for a mere second just because she grew to feel bad for Odin. He was really trying to win over her affections; he must've been so lonely over the years. But Skadi knew she wouldn't stay longer than tomorrow and was heading to the Bifrost the moment her _going away_ ball was over that Odin was throwing for her. She told them she'd be back by tomorrow night and she would be. Especially now, after her another one of her father's big reveals last night over dinner.

Skadi was still fuming, hence why she was throwing a tantrum over the stupid dress he wanted her to wear. Odin had been talking about how today Skadi would watch a play that he had be made to honor Loki's sacrifice. Of course, this brought up more questions about what had happened with the Dark Elves, Odin, having been very quick and short with his original explanation with what had happened, saying she'll get the full story when she watched the performance. But Skadi was, as we all know, impatient. So the Goddess questioned what the Aether really was, what was so important about it that made the Dark Elves so obsessed with it. Odin offhandedly told her was it was, not thinking much into it and acting like it was no big deal. If he downplayed it maybe she'd just let it go, he figured. But the years separated caused him to forget that Skadi was one to not let things go in the slightest.

Skadi was outraged, the Aether was another Infinity Stone; it was the Reality Stone. When she demanded to know what he did with it she became even more livid when he told her he had it be sent to the Collector for safe keeping. There was nothing safe about keeping it at the Collector's. All night that was all Skadi could think off, wishing she had some way to contact the other to let them know. To send them off with Nova to retrieve the stone and put it somewhere safe. It was eating her alive, knowing just how truly foolish her father was.

"Sif," Skadi spoke up after moments of silence. "I need you to do me a favor."

Sif looked at her curiously, moving to stand behind her. She let the princess talk as she absentmindedly reached for the brush sitting on table. She began to brush through the girl's hair, getting all the knots out before beginning to place braids throughout.

"I need you to go back to Xandar, please." Skadi started, watching Sif work as she recalled the conversation she told her she had with her father the night before. "The Aether is an Infinity Stone and it's not safe where it is. I need you to tell my friends where it is so they can get it. I can't wait another day, I don't trust my father to let me leave so easily."

"Your father will be absolutely _furious _if I leave Asgard without his permission." Sif said, seriously. "I cannot. The stone is safe, Odin knows what he is doing. You're being paranoid. The All-father will not keep his own daughter hostage. You will see you're Terran shortly, don't you worry." Sif rolled her eyes, tightening another braid and not taking much care to her worries; the girl was overreacting.

Skadi scoffed, rolling her eyes right back, glaring at the warrior through the mirror, "I'm not being paranoid. The Collector has the stone; it's not safe with him. He couldn't contain the Power Stone for five minutes before letting his stupid worker take it and nearly blow me and _my Terran_ half to hell. Sif, please, it'll only take you not even a few hours, I'm really not asking for much."

"Skadi, I know this is tough for you, but your duty is towards Asgard. I understand you have other obligations, truly I do," Sif spoke solemnly but firmly, feeling as if she was talking to Thor when she tried convincing him to stay instead of returning to Earth to his team of Avengers and that woman. "But, Asgard is first. You're people should be your first focus and you need to respect Odin's wishes. And, his wishes is for the stone to remain with the Collector."

"My father is waltzing around like a pompous idiot," Skadi narrowed her eyes in disgust at how much her father had changed over the years and how blindly Sif was following him. "Come on Sif, you're smarter than this. Something is off here, I mean seriously how any of you are not questioning him is beyond me. I understand he's lost his wife and children, but this is Odin we're talking about, he's not this stupid."

Skadi was furious. Her father may have blindly almost sent her off to be wed to a fraud but her father took great care when it came to weapons of mass destruction. He would've kept it in his vault, where he keeps all things he'd gained over the years as a way to boost. There is no way in hell that he'd send off an Infinity Stone. Or would he? Had her father really not be as smart as she had thought he was as a child? Were the stories of the great and strong Odin just lies, was he really just a lazy, arrogant king all along and she was just too young to notice.

"He expects me to sit through a five hour long play about Loki? It's enough knowing what Loki did: betray the family, bring frost giants onto Asgard, nearly kill Thor and then go down to Earth and almost help Thanos, of all evil beings, to use Infinity Stones to take over the planet? It hurts enough knowing he did all that, and he expects me to sit through some badly written play trying to defend it and honor him. And that statue, don't even get me started on it."

Sif laughed as Skadi ranted, hoping she'd no longer press the whole going to Xandar thing further and happy that she was no longer a crying mess like she'd been the first two days after Odin told her about what Loki did. She'd take Skadi smearing her king's name over her crying any day, even though she'd only admit that to herself. Odin was still her king and she still had to show her respect to him. Sif moved back, finishing the last braid, tying them together and letting them sit over the hair she left flowing down her back.

"He's a broken man now. He's lost a lot." Sif tried to defend her king.

"Because of mistakes he made." Skadi exclaimed, like she usually did whenever Sif tried to defend her father. "If he'd never tried to force me to marry Ego I would have never left Asgard, if I was here when all of that happened when Thor was banished I know I could've gotten Loki to not make the decisions that he made and then none of this could've happened."

"Don't give yourself that much credit, Skadi. Loki is Loki, and he'd always relished for a chance to start mischief. He'd found out that he'd been lied to his entire life, you being there might've not stopped him from doing what he did." Sif retorted, knowing that her blaming herself for Loki's choices was not healthy for her.

"You don't know him like I did." Skadi frowned, standing up from her seat. She turned to face her friend, pleading evident in her eyes. "Please, I just need to make sure my conscious is clear. If anything happens to that stone and I knew about it, I'd never live with myself. I'll go now myself, I don't care."

Skadi placed her hands on her hips, knowing that Sif would still not listen to her but she would try anyways. She knew that Sif was loyal to the crown and her father still outranked her in that respect but Skadi could only hope. She watched as Sif seemed to think about it more deeply as she made her way towards the door.

It was true, in the confines of closed doors, Sif and the Warriors Three had questioned certain things their king had done over the last few years. They no longer interfered with their realms day to day life, as they used too, instead Odin saying that all was for once well in the realms. There were other things as well, like how Skadi mentioned; his sudden obsession with defending Loki and painting a completely different picture of him did worry Sif and the Three, but who were they to question their King?

The princess knew she was asking deaf ears and frowned, knowing that the only thing she'd get today was being stuck watching a stupid play with her father. Sif frowned, seeing Skadi's deflated being. She knew the girl just wanted to make sure everything was well in the universe. And it was true, after seeing where they were delivering the stone to, Sif did question the stature of the place that Odin trusted the stone to be kept at.

"I swear, if you don't pay me back for this I will forever make sure you wear dresses that you hate." Sif said, surprising Skadi out of her bad mood.

"You'll do it?" Skadi nearly jumped with joy. "I swear on all the gods that I will forever be in your debt and will literally kiss the ground you walk on."

"I'll sneak off while everyone's at the play," Sif said angrily, but knew that it was properly the right thing to do. And how would Odin even find out it was her who did it? Skurge was too stupid to realize what was happening if Sif just came up with some dumb excuse. "I'll just tell Skurge Odin sent me on a mission. He's an idiot so he won't question it." Sif just shook her head without a word, putting her hand on the doorknob.

Skadi bounded across the room and engulfed Sif in a tight hug, knowing that the woman hated them but didn't care. She made it quick, letting her go before patting down her dress. The next few hours would be more torturous now that she'd not only have to sit through this play but now be waiting for Sif to return with news of her informing the Nova Core about the stone.


	10. All Our Times Have Come

**an. So I've been missing again, sorry. As per usual work gets in the way and I just haven't the time to sit down and do anything with this story. Hopefully things cool down before holiday season kicks in this November and I can get the rest of this story out. Lack of feedback has also discouraged me besides the same few who do, which I thank you so much for your feedback! **

_Chapter 10: All Our Times Have Come_

Skadi had been right; the next few hours had been nothing but torture. She'd never seen anything quite like this before in her life. She'd felt herself dowsing off a few times but would quickly be awoken by the crowd of lords and ladies reacting to what was happening on the stage before them. Skadi had been sitting on a plush chair next to her father, who'd been lounged out on a couch as a handmaiden fed him grapes. Skadi had long drank all the wine that had been sitting on their little table, it being the only thing that was helping her get through whatever it was she was watching.

They'd finally made to the third and final act. The first being about Loki learning the truth about his parentage and about how he was really the prince of the frost giants and that Odin took him as a baby. Skadi couldn't help but grow sad seeing that act, even with how badly it was acted. She could only imagine how Loki really felt during all of this and how it led him to go to Thanos and make a deal with him to help him retrieve all of the Infinity Stones.

Act two was nothing but a mess, showing how Loki was on Earth and fighting against some team who called themselves the Avengers. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at how it'd been thrown together, trying to somehow justify the chaos Loki brought down to Earth with him. What he'd done was wrong, no matter how hard Skadi hadn't wished to believe that. It was at the point when Loki began to summon down the Chitauri did Skadi begin to chug the wine.

And now there she was watching as _'Loki'_ laid down his life for Thor as they fought against the Dark Elves. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she heard woman from the audience letting out sobs. Skadi knew that the play had to be almost over by now and kept looking back through the crowd, hoping that Sif would be back soon, hopefully.

Sick of watching as the actors for Thor and Loki overacted the prolonged death scene, Skadi let her eyes focus on the crowd. She was brought back to pay attention to her father as she could hear him whispering along to the play.

"I didn't do it for him," He whispered before eating another grape.

Skadi looked at him in disgust, before turning back to the play as the Thor let out a loud wail as Loki finally died. As the actor playing Odin stepped out he spoke,

"And so, Loki died of his wounds. Giving his life for ours. He fought back those disgusting Elves, brought peace to the realm; Loki, my boy," He said, as a child walked out onto the stage, painted blue. Skadi had to bite back a laugh at how badly the paint was applied and how hilarious the entire thing had been. Feeling herself about to crack she had to look away.

The man kept talking but Skadi's attention was elsewhere. As her eyes once again swept the crowd she could help but let out a startled gasp. She had expected to see Sif, but was shocked to see someone else entirely. She saw her brother, Thor, standing there looking at the stage in the same disgust she had been looking at it with. She had just looked over his features not believing that he was home, wanting to run up to him and hug him tightly.

Thor could feel eyes on him and turned away from the stage. His facial expressions matched Skadi's, shocked to see his sister sitting there staring at him back. It'd been years since he'd seen her and years since he'd accepted that he'd never see her again. The god of thunder almost didn't recognize her at first.

He was brought back to the stage as the crowd began to clap and cheer. Thor and Skadi watched Odin as he stood up, clapping vigorously at what he thought was a job well done. Odin looked down to Skadi, annoyed and confused as to why she wasn't clapping; he had this play made especially for her to see. He could see her attention elsewhere and following her eyes as he began to take a sip from his cup, noting how she had drank all the wine from the vase. His eyes widened, trying to not spit out the wine that was in his mouth.

"Father," Thor spoke as his father stared at him, unable to hide his shock.

"Oh shit," Odin cursed under his breath.

"Thor!" Skadi stood up, not hearing her father's curse or seeing his discomfort. She was just so happy to see Thor after all these years. She ran up to him, hugging herself to his side. He smiled down at her, hugging her back with his hand that hadn't been holding Mjolnir. Skadi noted the giant horn like crown that he wore on his back and looked up at him in curiosity.

"My son Thor, he has returned!" Odin said, but almost fretfully. "Greetings my boy!"

Skadi noted how shaky he was and how more unlike himself he appeared compared to what she'd noticed over the last few days of her being back on Asgard. Thor gave her a tight squeeze before letting her go. He began to walk towards one of the many guards littering the balcony. "That appeared to be a very interesting play, what's it called?"

"The tragedy of Loki of Asgard. The people wanted to commemorate him" Odin said, sitting back down.

"Hmm," Thor nodded, handing off the object on his back to a guard. "Indeed they should, I like the statue too. It's a lot better looking than he was when he was alive though. A little less weasely, less greasy."

Thor earned a chuckle from Skadi, missing her brother's teasing each other. She stopped when Thor shot her a short look, silently telling her that something was off. She moved to stand closer to her brother, wanting to question what he was on about. As Thor turned to look at the guard he handed the crown too.

"Do you know what this is?" He questioned his father.

"Oh," Odin stared at it, almost pretending to be amazed by the object. "That's the skull of Surtur, it's a formidable weapon."

"Do me a favor," Thor addressed the guard. "Lock this up in the vault so it doesn't turn into a giant monster and destroy the whole planet."

Thor sighed, moving to walk back to his sister. He knew that she had no idea what was happening and he pitied her. He had no idea how she got back here, or how long she'd been fooled to believe that everything around her was truly as it seemed. Thor was angry, it was one thing to pull the wool over his eyes but to pull it over his little sister was another. She'd done nothing to deserve being lied to after all these years and hated to be the one to break it to her.

He began to toss his hammer up and down in his hand, and he finally stood next to his sister. He watched as his father handed off his cup of wine to a servant and made his way over to them. He clearly was uncomfortable with Thor being close to Skadi and wanted to send her off.

"So it's back to Midgard with you now?" Odin questioned, placing a hand on one of the pillars to steady himself.

"What? No! You just got here!" Skadi exclaimed, unsure why her father seemed to want his son to leave already. "No, you need to stay a little longer,"

Thor smiled down at his sister, missing her beaming up at him. He nodded his head, turning back to the All-father, "I agree, I think I'll stay for a little while. You know, to ease my mind a little. I've been having this recurring dream over the last few years, nearly every night I see Asgard in ruins."

"Just silly dreams," Odin shut him off as they looked at each other. "A cause of an overacting imagination."

"Hm, possibly," Thor shut him off as well, tossing his hammer now a little higher. "But then, I decided to travel the cosmos and investigate. And what did I find? The nine realms completely in chaos; enemies of Asgard rallying together, plotting our demise all while you, Odin, the protector those nine realms are sitting here in a bathrobe eating grapes."

"What?" Skadi questioned, turning to her father expecting an answer. He had told her that the nine realms were living in peace, that Loki was the cause of it because of his sacrifice.

"It is best to respect our neighbor's freedom." Odin stammered, turning to look away from Skadi and Thor.

"Oh yes the freedom to get slaughter," Thor said, throwing his hammer a little too closely to Odin, letting his fly past him and back into his hand.

"Why aren't you sending our forces to help? Why didn't you tell me this?" Skadi jumped in questioning her father as her brother did.

"Well you see, my dear, I've been quite busy-,"

"Watching theater?" Thor cut him off, tossing the hammer past him one more time.

"Well board meetings and such-,"

"You're really going to make me do it?" Thor continued to cut off Odin taking one bigger step towards him, "You're going to make me do in front of all these people; in front of our sister?"

Skadi jerked her head to Thor, hoping she misheard him. What did he mean our sister? She turned to Odin, narrowing her eyes at him darkly. She was sick of all of this run around and needed answers, right answers. She turned back to Thor, but not before sending Odin a threatening look.

Without a word, Thor looked firm, throwing his hammer out towards the mountains. Everyone on the balcony gasped and stared, alarmed and unsure as to what was happening. Thor took a step behind his father, not even threatened by the guards turning to him in alarm. They pointed their swords at him, giving him a chance to explain himself as the prince placed his hand on the back of Odin's neck. Even Skadi was thrown off, not sure what Thor was up too and why he was threatening to kill their father.

"You know nothing will stop Mjolnir from returning to my hand, not even your face." Thor hissed, gripping Odin's neck tighter.

"Thor, maybe you shouldn't," Skadi warned, seeing the guards edging closer.

"I'd listen to your sister," Odin gasped, seeing Mjolnir starting to head back.

"You mean our sister, brother," Thor quipped, watching his hammer coming closer and closer.

"Alright I yield!" Odin's voice changed, it now sounded all too familiar to Skadi's ears. It sounded exactly like Loki's.

Skadi watched as Odin jumped out of Thor's grasp, his face, following by the rest of his body morphing to show his true form. His voice now matched his body as now standing in front of them all was Loki who appeared to be alive and well after all. Skadi felt her jaw click as she clenched it in anger, her eyes aglow.

"What the fuck?" she exclaimed, ignoring all the gasps from the lords and ladies startled by the reveal and now along with her language that was not fit for a princess.

Loki slowly turned to face his siblings, trying to get his quick tongue to work and come up with some sort of excuse to justify his actions. Looking between both of them though he found himself for once speechless. He nervously smiled, as if they'd be happy to see him alive and well.

Out from the crowd came Skurge, covered in some gross, dripping green liquid, shouting as he cleared the crowed. "Behold! Thor Odinson-,"

"No, no," Loki snapped up at him and successfully shutting the man up. Loki turned around, angrily with a finger in the air, preventing Skurge to speak as he tried to defend himself. "You had one job; just the one,"

"Where'd Odin?" Thor questioned as Loki turned back around to face them.

"You just couldn't stay away could you? Everything was going fine without you," Loki complained, as if this was all Thor's fault and not his own. "Asgard was prospering and you've ruined everything. Ask them all,"

Before Thor could even respond, Skadi stepped up pushing Loki back causing him to nearly trip over the stairs that led to the landing where they had been sitting on during the play.

"You little liar!" She shouted, pushing him again. "What is wrong with you; answer him, Loki! Where's Odin?"

Thor joined her, backing him up as he scampered onto the landing, asking him if he killed him. Loki tried to defend himself, but to not avail as he stumbled onto the couch. Thor placed Mjolnir on top of his chest, not putting too much weight on him but enough to make him speak.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Loki squeaked, looking up to see both his siblings towering over him. "Alright, alright, okay, I know where he is."

Skadi and Thor shared one last look, knowing that they had to go find their father. Skadi wanted to cry, she'd been so close to being able to go back home and now this. She bit her lip knowing that she had to go with her brothers but didn't want too. As Thor made Loki stand, Skadi figured that she'd see them when she got back and that it shouldn't take too long to get Odin back on the throne.


	11. Here, But Now They're Gone

**an. E****verything's**** gonna start picking up now! I'm ****excited! Also quick side track- can we talk about Spidey being back home? Literal was so angry for the last few weeks over this! Anyway thanks to everyone whose favorited/followed this story and Arianna for reviewing as always! I think this chapter will answer you're question! **

**Also since I just want to I'm posting two chapters tonight! **

_Chapter 11: Here, But Now They're Gone_

Earth was a planet Skadi had never thought she'd ever travel too; with Peter being the only reason why she'd ever go to the planet and him swearing how he'd never go back. She didn't blame him for not wanting to go back now either. The planet was known for being primitive compared too much of the other planets in the galaxy. She was curious about what is was like down there of course, after hearing all the stories Peter told her of Earth, but too say Peter's stories were a perfect representation of the planet would be a lie.

Thor had said that they were in New York City, the same city Loki had once attacked for Thanos. The princess vaguely remembered Peter talking about the city, after hearing it being mention in one of the songs on the Zune. She'd never understood what it meant to _get back into the New York Groove_ and needed Peter to explain what that had meant. She couldn't help but sing the song in her head as she walked through the busy streets, now more confused than ever about the song.

Peter said that New York City was supposed to be this big exciting and beautiful place, where the people were bright and vibrant. But all Skadi saw were Terran's rushing around, not caring to say excuse me as they brushed past each other. There was nothing exciting or beautiful about this city as Skadi just thought it was nothing but loud and dirty. It reminded her of Knowhere except not being in the center of a celestial head floating in the depts. of space.

They'd been dropped off by the Bifrost in an alley way, in order to try and not draw attention to themselves. Moments later, after a firm warning from Thor to behave, Loki was now leading them through the streets to exactly where he'd dropped their father off. Loki explained on the way that he had placed the same spell on Odin that Amora had placed on Skadi, his way of getting back at him for never allowing him to go and search for his sister on Hala. Skadi could tell that he was trying to win her over with that piece of information but she simply rolled her eyes at him and looked away from his 'pitiful' stare.

They soon slowed as Loki did, approaching what appeared to be rubble from a building. Loki's heart stopped when he saw it. Shady Acres Care Home, the place where Loki found out that people of Earth put their elderly when they grew sick of them, being demolished. The siblings stood there, each with their arms crossed against their chests and irritated looks on their faces. Loki was the first to speak, seeing as his siblings, standing on either side of him were mixed for words.

"I swear I left him right here." Loki tried to defend himself.

"Right here on the sidewalk or where the building is being demolished?" Thor questioned, shaking his head at his brother. "Great planning."

"How was I supposed to know? I can't see into the future, I'm not a witch," Loki shrugged his shoulders, clearly not sorry at all for what he'd done.

"Really? Could've fooled me, you dress like one." Thor taunted, motioning towards his all black attire.

"He's clearly not smart enough to be a witch, Thor," Skadi spoke up, putting her hands in her jacket pocket, glad to at least be out of her Asgardian clothes regardless of the situation. She pulled out the Zune from her pocket, plucking one earbud out and sticking it into her ear. She randomly picked a song wanting to tune out the brother's bickering as much as she could, along with all the sounds from the metal contraptions on the streets.

Thor nodded along with his sister, agreeing about Loki's intelligence before turning back to face him himself. Loki was eyeing Skadi as she placed the device she held back into her pockets, turning her back to him. He wanted to reach out to her and apologize. His intentions were really for the greater good for the both of them and only wanted for her to understand. She had no idea what was coming for them back on Asgard.

"I can't believe you're alive, I saw you die. I mourned you, I cried for you. And for you to do this and play us all for a fool; again." Thor cut Loki out of his thoughts though, pulling the God of Mischief to look to his brother.

Before Loki could respond he was cut off by two Terran's rushing over to them. Skadi eyed them cautiously, never speaking to a Terran besides Peter before. She watched as they ran to Thor, holding a small black device that from its appearance at first looked similar to the Zune. On guard, ready to jump in if they moved to attack her brother, not sure why they would run up to them otherwise, Skadi let her eyes glow, readying her powers. She glared up at Loki as he placed a hand on her shoulder, backing her off and rolling his eyes as the two girls started to giggle and talk to Thor.

"Hi, um sorry to interrupt but can we get a picture with you?" The dark skinned one asked as her friend appeared to be too shy to speak.

Skadi titled her head, confused as to what they were doing as she saw Loki just roll his eyes at them. Thor smiled at the two girls, completely ignoring the situation and agreed, letting them move closer to him. Skadi watched as the girl held the black device up and clicked a button, as they all smiled. She'd seen photo taking devices before but not one like this. They all smiled at the device before squealing and running off.

Before the two girl's ran off, the quiet one spoke up, "Sorry to hear Jane dumped you,"

When they were finally gone, Thor turned to Loki sheepishly. Skadi perked her eyebrows up, remembering her from the play and from when Odin, well, Loki told her about the Aether. "She didn't dump me, you know. I dumped her, it was a mutual dumping."

Loki smirked, patting him on his shoulder playfully. Skadi smiled, enjoying the moment, almost forgetting why they were here on this crummy sidewalk. She let out a slight laugh at her brother expense before a sudden orange circle surrounding Loki's feet appeared.

"Loki, what are you doing?" She questioned, not trusting him or his tricks any longer.

"This isn't me." He told her, for once in a long time telling the truth.

Thor and Skadi looked to the other, as Loki was suddenly sucked down into the ground and the circle closed up. Unsure of what to do they just looked around the busy streets, seemingly the only two who saw what had happened. A small piece of paper appeared where Loki had been standing, Thor taking Mjolnir, which had been disguised by Loki's magic to appear to be an umbrella, and poking the ground near it.

Skadi pushed his arm away, looking at him in bewilderment. What was poking it going to do? Reaching down, she picked up the paper and read it out loud.

"177 A, Bleecker Street." She read, looking up at her brother when she was done. "What is this?"

"An address," Thor responded.

"To where?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Thor proclaimed as he began to walk down the street, clenching his umbrella tightly in his hands.

"Do you know which way you're going?" She questioned, following him into the flock of people. She gripped the paper tightly, along with clutching the Zune in her pocket, afraid that it fall out while they pushed through the crowd of people.

"Not a clue," He said as if it was no big deal.

Skadi squinted at him in amazement, finally understanding that it was this kind of thinking that made it take so long for him to return to Asgard. Groaning, she walked up to the nearest Terran, asking for directions. The Terran appeared to be a middle aged woman, who looked Skadi up and down with a sneer. She ignored her and kept walking. Skadi sneered back, annoyed at how rude she was. She moved to the next Terran who not so kindly told her to fuck off.

"You see, you have a lot to learn about Earthlings, my dear little sister. Allow me," Thor cut in, slightly amused at his sister's short comings, remembering his first time on Earth. Snatching the paper from Skadi he walked up to a woman, smiling widely, using his charm as he spoke. "Hello, I'm Thor, God of Thunder, I was wondering if you could help me by directing me and my sister to this address."

Bitterly Skadi followed after Thor as the woman eagerly gave him directions to their destination. So all Terran's, not just Peter, were idiots, she'd decided huffing as she walked past the woman.

It took a while longer than Skadi had hoped to reach Bleecker Street. She had always thought Xandar had busy streets but they were nothing compared to the streets of New York. She had asked Thor what the contraptions on the roads were and why they were making so much nose, even her earbuds wouldn't completely drown them out. Thor told her they were called cars and since Terran's hadn't had flying ships, the cars made that honking nose because everyone was driving to slow.

Skadi sighed in relief as they finally walked up the streets to the building that was their destination. As Thor raised his hand to knock on the door, Skadi looked around the street. Thor knocked on the door a few times before he found himself suddenly transported into a darkly light room alongside his sister. They looked up at the other, making sure the other was okay before looking around the room in alarm.

"Thor Odinson and Skadi Odinsdottir." A voice called out to them.

Turning around towards a strangely designed window, they saw a shadowy figure floating above the landing of a stairwell. Together they watched him float closer to them, his cape flowing out behind him. Thor raised his umbrella, subconsciously pushing Skadi behind him. He was cautious, not knowing that Earth had magic users before today. The man came into full view, and landed in front of them. He didn't appear to be threatening but Thor wouldn't take any chances after Loki's disappearance.

"The God of Thunder and the Goddess of Winter."

Scrunching up her nose, annoyed at Thor's movement to protect and by being called by her father's name, Skadi moved past Thor. Eying the floating man up and down, she opened her mouth to speak, "Legally it's Skadi Hunt, not Odinsdottir."

"Whichever you prefer to be called, your brother can put down the umbrella," The man spoke, eying her then Mjolnir as if he knew what it really was. "Let's have a chat."


	12. Came the Last Night of Sadness

_Chapter 12: Came the Last Night of Sadness_

Thor had looked hesitantly as the wizard and his sister spoke, unsure if he was ready to trust this man just yet. He felt a tug on his jacket, looking up to see Skadi trying to get his attention. She pointed down to his side and saw that an umbrella stand had appeared off to the side of them. Thor smirked, before placing his hammer down into it. The moment he did a gust of wind hit him, flashing the two Asgardians into another room. The man dressed in blue leaned up against a desk, watching the two expectantly waiting for an explanation. Thor was amused, turning to look at the table in front of him. He began to play with the first thing he saw.

"So Earth has wizards now?" Thor questioned, twirling the small straight piece of metal he'd taken at the man. He tried putting it back, but instead knocked all the others resting on the holder down, causing them to crash onto the table and some rolling down onto the floor.

"Must you touch?" Skadi hissed at him, picking one that had rolled towards her up and placing it on the table. She looked at the man apologetically.

"The preferred term is master of the mystic arts, you can leave that now." The man said, completely unamused.

"I prefer wizard," Thor shrugged, needing the last word.

"Thor," Skadi warned before turning to face the man. "I'm sorry about him, my both my brothers are clearly idiots now so if you could just tell us who you are and give us our brother back we'll be on our way."

"My name is Dr. Stephen Strange and unfortunately I can't do that," the man said, making Skadi's smile dropped. He continued, addressing the goddess more than her brother for she was right, her brothers were indeed idiots. "Take a seat."

Another gust of wind hit them, and they were suddenly now sitting on two comfy red chairs, facing Dr. Strange, who Thor now settled that he wasn't a fan of.

"Tea?" The Doctor offered, attempting to be somewhat hospitable.

Skadi accepted it gratefully as it appeared in her hand, all of the affects from the transporting getting to her head along with all the wine she had drank. Her body was still not used to the strong alcohol and never had been drunk before, normal alcohol never doing much of anything for her. She sipped the hot liquid, happy to have something else in her system.

Thor on the other hand, grimaced, staring down at the cup in disgust. He placed the cup down, looking up at the wizard, "I don't drink tea."

"Then what do you drink?" He questioned, not backing down from Thor's rudeness.

"Not tea." Thor said, but soon stared at the cup as it transformed into a beer glass. Thor narrowed his eyes at the liquid unsure if he should drink. He saw Skadi drinking hers and figured if it was poisoned, he'd better go down with her. Taking a long sip, he noted that the glass had begun to fill itself back up.

"So I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms and planets that may be a threat to this world. Your _brother_, Loki, unfortunately for you is one of those beings." Dr. Strange explained as Thor continued to chug his beer.

Skadi looked at the Doctor sadly, understanding him completely but also knowing that he didn't understand why they had brought him back to Earth in the first place. "Look, Dr. Strange, we understand your concern but he's under our watch, we won't let him do anything. Trust us," Skadi said, trying to smile her way into making him give Loki back to them.

"Look, wizard, we're looking for our father." Thor cut in, ignoring Skadi when she whacked him upside the back of his head after he spoke for interrupting her.

"So," Dr. Strange stared at the two with unamused eyes, "if I were to tell you were Odin was all parties concerned would promptly return to Asgard?"

"Promptly," Thor responded in seconds.

"Great, he's in Norway," Dr. Strange informed them.

Skadi was unsure where that was as was Thor but neither really got a chance to question as the Doctor had already zapped them to a different location. Strange stood before them, reading a book as Skadi and Thor struggled to find their footing and nearly crashed into the other. Strange stated how he was just checking to see if there were any Asgardian modifications he had to make before slamming the book he read shut, clearly eager to get them both out of his house.

Again, they were flung to another part of the house, Thor crashing into a bookcase, his beer still in hand spilling out of the cup, some getting onto Skadi's jacket. She growled, now having to deal with getting that smell off later. The force of the crash against the bookcase caused Thor to rip down one of the shelves as well as he tried getting his footing. Skadi took the beer from his hand, placing it down onto a nearby table.

"Could you stop doing that?" She asked, feeling her stomach reeling.

"Can I-, I need a strand of either one of your hair?" Strange turned to question them, ignoring Skadi's request. "Just one strand of hair."

"Let me make this straight! My hair is something not to be trifled with!" Thor proclaimed, walking towards the wizard, sick of all the nonsense. Before he knew it though the wizard appeared from behind him, ripping a strand of hair out from his long mane. "Ow!"

Thor watched as the wizard took his strand of hair and set it aglow to the same shade of color as the circle that entrapped Loki. For the last time the pair found themselves transporting again, this time Thor falling down a set of stairs while Skadi plumped on her butt on the side of the doctor. She looked up to him in annoyance as he began twirling the line of light around in his fingers. He then used it and formed a giant circle as the pair stood up. Inside the circle was a grassy area which Skadi assumed was this Norway he spoke off.

"He's waiting for you." Dr. Strange announced, motioning towards the circle. "Don't forget your umbrella." The Doctor reminded, pointing to the God of Thunder.

Thor nodded, nearly forgetting he brought it. All the transporting in such a short time span had made his head all foggy. He reached his hand out already hearing the hammer smashing through glasses and other items. Thor smiled sheepishly at the wizard, letting out a soft sorry as Skadi looked more embarrassed than ever. When the umbrella finally reached his hand he smiled widely, dusting off some glass shards from it.

"I also suppose we'll need our brother back." He said, reminding the wizard of something he'd forgotten as well.

"Oh right," Dr. Strange nodded, using his hands to form a circle up above them.

Loki's yells could suddenly be heard, growing louder and louder until his legs and body eventually came into view, crashing down onto the floor from the hole Strange had made appear from above. Skadi winced as he landed with a harsh thug.

"I've been falling for thirty minutes!" Loki shouted, gasping for breath as he stood up.

"You can handle him from here" Dr. Strange looked at Skadi, having more faith in this girl than then her blonde older brother.

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Strange." Skadi said thankfully, reaching out to shake his hand. They shook hands for a moment as Thor looked out into the grassy fields.

"Handle me? Will you?" Loki said offended by some mere mortal treating him with such disrespect. He made his knives appear from his hands, ready to charge at the sorcerer. "You think you're some kind of all-powerful sorcerer? Don't think for one minute you'd stand a chance-,"

"Alright bye-bye!" Dr. Strange had enough of the family, sending the portal zooming at them.

Loki threw himself through the portal, meaning to attack the Master of the Mystic arts, but only landed face first into the dewy grass. Thor and Skadi stood behind him, Thor rolling his eyes at his brother while Skadi stared down and laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he just handled you," Skadi proclaimed, not easing up on her amused smile much to Loki's displeased face.

Loki looked up at her unenthusiastically from her comment before pulling himself up to stand next to her. Strengthening out his suit jacket he looked forward, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand. He was going to give some clever quip back at his sister but instead, the two stood in silence, watching as Thor was the first one to step forward towards the man standing not too far off from them looking off into the ocean and sky. Loki could sense her nervousness and could bet that it rivaled his own. He couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty, the girl, having to go through reuniting with her father once more. With a soft and somewhat comforting smile, Loki wrapped an arm around her waist, gently nudging her forward to catch up to Thor and their father.


	13. Seasons Don't Fear the Reaper

_Chapter 13: Seasons Don't Fear the Reaper_

Odin had made many mistakes during his long life; it was that much that he had come to be able to admit over his handful of years living in exile. He'd often spend his days wondering about what would have happened if he didn't choose the actions he did, or let life run its course without him interfering. He'd always done everything with a purpose or so he thought. He'd never much questioned it until now as he could feel death reaching out to him and as he could feel his children approaching. He had many things he'd wanted to say to his children for years now and now that he finally had them all together for the first time in decades, he found himself speechless and in awe at the view before him.

His eldest son was the first to reach him, not much to Odin's surprise. He didn't have to even bother to look to see his other two children, his youngest son and youngest daughter, to know that they were lagging behind. Thor had always been the leader of his siblings, always being the one to head into everything headfirst regardless if that was a good or bad thing. Just like when they were children and he'd call them into his throne room to either scold or simply speak with them, Thor reached him first, followed by Loki, who Skadi would be trailing behind slowly.

Odin felt at peace finally seeing them all together after everything that had happened to his family. During his exile, he had almost felt broken as he contemplated over his life. Odin had always been a stern and stoic man, to which, his wife, Frigga, had always made sure to remind him of such. She'd often have to remind him that he couldn't always be like the King of Asgard with them, that he'd also have to be a father. And once he figured out how to balance his duties as King and being there for his children, the children of Odin couldn't deny that their father had been the best.

It all didn't start going wrong until he has so foolishly agreed to marry his daughter off too some fake King. Odin had known that the man claiming to be J'son of Spartax wasn't who he had claimed to be from the start. Odin was the All-father, he had made foolish decisions but he was not a fool himself. He had no intent on actually sending his daughter off but he kept that to himself. His own ego had gotten to him, wanting to taunt the man, leading him on before revealing that he knew about the rouse and teach him what happens when you try to make a fool out of the King of Asgard.

He'd also wanted to teach his growing daughter a lesson. She had grown spoiled with the thanks of her brother, Loki and her mother bending over backwards and constantly giving her everything she wanted. She felt that she was too good for her duties; that she didn't have to sit through her lessons or be polite and respect her elders. The girl, who'd just began to enter her teens, wanted nothing but to be like her brothers. She demanded that she learned how to fight and practiced the craft of magic, regardless of Odin saying no. Odin eventually let Frigga cave and allowed the Lady Sif to begin her training while Frigga started formal magic lessons, not whatever Loki had been teaching her at the late hours of the night. Odin was hesitant to allow this after learning the hard way as to what could happen; he was afraid of the past repeating itself and had tried for years to keep her away from the training fields.

His fears were what drove her away in the end. He'd never expected her to run off after announcing that she _would be married _to the King of Spartax, he thought she'd just throw one of her tantrums. He never expected Loki to help her escape either, enlisting the help of that witch who ended up taking her away from them for good. It was that simply mistake, that fear that caused everything to spiral into what it was. He'd been so furious at his son for helping her, that he blamed him for her being lost to them, instead of blaming who was really at fault; himself. His sudden new treatment towards his son was what made that anger grow inside him, that resentment, and turned him to darkness.

"Father," Thor's voice finally appeared, snapping his father out of the daze that he had been.

"Isn't this place beautiful? Just look at it." Odin said, continuing to stare out into the sky, letting the sound of the waves crashing down on the rocks below ease him.

"Father, it's us," Thor spoke again, clearly unsettled by his father's demeanor.

He looked up at Loki and Skadi as they finally stood next to them, Loki being brave and standing directly on the side of Odin, while Skadi stood next to Loki. She wasn't ready to face her father again. She thought she'd already done so days ago and the thought of having to explain herself and have him explain himself properly intimidated her. She'd been surprised by her father's lax reaction to her coming home and did indeed think it to be strange, only to have then learn why. It hadn't been him before, it'd been Loki. Now she'd have to actually sit and listen to what her father really had to say to her after all of these years.

"My children," Odin nodded, moving his head towards Loki and Skadi but not fully looking at them still. "I've been waiting to see you together again."

"I know, and we've come to take you home." Thor said, trying to smile and lift the awkward tension in the air.

"Home, yes," Odin smirked, chuckling a bit before looking back out, "Your mother, she calls for me. Do you hear her?"

Odin turned, finally facing his youngest children. He looked at them, admiring how much they'd grown over the years. Loki, somewhat looked like his old self again regardless of the years spent charading as Odin while his daughter looked just as beautiful as her mother did. He finished looking them over before again looking out to the sky, letting his love's voice fill his ears again.

"Loki, lift your magic!" Thor ordered, his face contorting as he angrily looked at his brother. He was in no mood for his tricks to test him.

"Oh yes," Odin said before Loki could speak, turning to look from Thor to Loki, as his youngest boy shook his head in defense. Odin laughed, sounding proud, to Loki and Thor's surprise. "It took me quite a while to break free of your spell. Your mother would've been proud. Now, come sit with me, I don't have much time."

Odin looked at his son in earnest, before turning around to head towards a larger rock behind them all. As he turned he reached his hand out towards his daughter, remembering the days when she was just a small girl and always begging to be carried by him. He reached his hand out to her, not expecting her to hold it but hoped that she would. Her face looked like she was contemplating it, looking up to her brother's as if they'd tell her what to do. She knew she should take her anger at him and put it aside but it was too hard too; regardless something told her to grab his hand.

She let him led her to the rock, being an anchor and keeping him steady as he knelt down. Once he was sat, she joined him, not letting go of his hand as she did. She felt him squeeze it tightly and she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat as her heart started thumping in her chest. She felt more relaxed when her brothers joined them, Loki now sitting next to her.

"I know we've all failed you, but we can make this right." Thor started, looking at his father with concern.

"I've failed you," Odin said painfully, knowing he hadn't the time to say everything he wanted to say to his children. "There is much I wish to apologize for, but we haven't the time for it is upon us; Ragnarok."

"No, no," Thor shook his head, confused and still unsettled. "I've put an end to Suter, I've stopped Ragnarok."

"No you haven't. Ragnarok has already begun," Odin insisted, leaning back in his spot. "She's coming, my life was all that held her back but now my time has come. I cannot keep her away any longer,"

"Who are you talking about?" Skadi finally spoke up, seeing Thor slowly breaking at the sight of their father in this state.

"The goddess of Death, Hela," Odin frowned, looking away from their faces. "My firstborn, your sister."

Skadi tighten her grip on her father's hand, not believing a word she just heard. She looked up to see Thor, wearing a painful look on his face as he was rendered speechless. He'd looked hurt, betrayed, just how she looked back when Odin informed her about marrying her off, and she could bet that it was the same look Loki wore when Odin told him the truth about him being a frost giant. Skadi let go of her father's hand, feeling angry. This was just another lie their father had told them.

"Her violent appetites grew beyond my control and I couldn't stop her so I banished her; I locked her away." Odin admitted, remembering that day like it was yesterday; the pain was still fresh, and even though he knew his children were furious it felt good to finally get it off his chest. "She draws her strength from Asgard, once she gets there she'll be unstoppable."

"Whatever she is we can beat her." Thor finally found his voice, though he'd sound as if he was about to cry. "Together, all four of us can face her."

"No we won't. I'm on a different path now. You must face this alone." Odin hushed him. "I love you my children, more than you will ever know. Look at that,"

Odin trailed off, pointing to something off in the distance that none of them could see or tried to see. Skadi looked up at Loki, seeing that he'd been silent this entire time. His face spoke for him as he wore the same expression she had. She was hurt, sad and confused; they were uncertain and uncomfortable by what their father had said to them.

"I remember this place; home." Odin spoke just as his body began to desperate and fade off from existence.

Skadi choked back tears as her father faded into orange particles, blowing off into the wind. She was still unforgivingly angry with him and hadn't thought that she'd be upset about him dying but she was. She wasn't ready to say goodbye, she hadn't wanted to but knew that she'd need closure and speak with him about everything and now she'd never get that now; Loki took that away from her. She also felt guilty, knowing that he died knowing that she hadn't forgiven him yet and he had died after losing everything; his throne, his children, his wife.

Thor stood first, clenching his fist in fury. He couldn't mourn, no, not as his heart bumped quickly, feeling electricity coursing through his veins. He could hear thunder bounding off in the distance. Without a care, ignoring Skadi nearly jumping out of her skin as another thunder strike went off, he just turned to Loki. He wanted to kill him. He wanted to replace him with their father because Odin deserved his life more than his senseless brother. It was all his fault, if he hadn't played his tricks, they'd all still be together.

Skadi jumped up, seeing Thor make a move towards Loki. Granted, she wanted to beat the crap out of Loki herself, she knew that she had to have the level head out of them. Thor raised a fist to Loki, only stopping when he felt his sister place a cold hand on his chest, while the other hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him from striking down on Loki.

"Thor stop!" She warned, letting her eyes glow. "I'm just as angry with him as you are, but fighting won't help us at the moment." Skadi pleaded before Thor could push her away.

She halted, releasing him as the three could heard a flickering off in the distance. Alert, remembering their father's words all three turned around slowly, watching as a green portal appeared a few yards away from them. They all knew that this was their _sister_; that this was the goddess of death coming.

Walking past them, Thor moved to go closer to the portal with Loki surprisingly following after him. Skadi watched as Loki used his magic, returning both brothers into their normal state of dress and thankfully leaving her as she was.

She slowly trailed after them, having an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She felt nauseous suddenly, blaming it quickly on the events of the day mixing in with her nerves. She felt the world spinning as the portal expanded further, a figure slowly making its way out, clothes all tattered and worn. Skadi tried to stopped herself from fainting that moment, recognizing the woman the moment she stepped out of the portal. It'd been the woman in her dreams, the woman that she had those almost forgotten dreams off as a child. The one where she'd be there playing in a garden with two boys, now who she realized where her brothers, and a woman would appear, Hela, taking her away from them as the garden would suddenly be set ablaze.

"So he's finally gone," She spoke casually, looking between the three Asgardians. The portal closed behind her, whipping her long black hair down to rest past her shoulders. "Such a shame, I would have enjoyed seeing that."

"You must be Hela," Thor said, eager to attempt to bring peace with her but knew that the chances for that were slim. "I'm Thor, son of Odin,"

"Really?" She said, amused. "You don't look like him."

"Perhaps we can come to an arrangement." Loki cut in, knowing that he was better with diplomacy more so than his brother.

"Ha, now you sound like him." Hela sneered, looking from the two brothers then to Skadi, "And who are you? Another one of Odin's? Clearly father's been busy since I've been gone."

"Who she is doesn't matter, now let's talk about how we can settle this." Loki snapped, uncomfortable with the way Hela looked at Skadi like she was prey.

"We can only settle this one way," Hela said with a smile, "Kneel,"

"I beg your pardon?" Loki questioned, not liking how this situation felt one bit.

"I said kneel," Hela repeated, drawn out as if saying it slower would help Loki hear her better. "Kneel, before you're new Queen."

"I don't think so," Thor said sick of the talk. Throwing Mjolnir out Thor intended to end this here and now without any new arrangements being made besides on Hela's face. Though, no such thing would happen as Hela easily caught Mjolnir with her hand, keeping it from hitting her. Thor was beside himself, shaking his head in fear and confusion, "It's not possible,"

"Darling, you have no idea what's possible," Hela smirked, clenching the hammer in her hands, breaking the metal as if it were made of clay.

The force sent from Mjolnir hit the three unexpectedly, sending them back a couple of steps. Loki felt his mind race, thinking less about saving Asgard but more about saving himself and his sister. He'd just gotten her back and he wasn't going to lose her in a pointless fight against this woman. She clearly was more powerful than they could handle just from stopping his brother's hammer alone, let alone managing to break it.

The woman formed a horned helmet onto her head, along with two long swords in each hand before strutting towards them. Loki could see Thor already edging forward to fight her and decided to let him. He moved backwards, snatching Skadi by the arm and roughly pulled her towards him. Shouting up to the sky he shouted for Skurge to bring them back.

"No!" Thor and Skadi shouted but it was too late, the Bifrost engulfed them all, sending them up spiraling up towards Asgard.


	14. Why Don't You Fight It?

_Chapter 14: Why Don't You Fight It?_

Everything had been a blur, from her father dying in front of her eyes, to seeing her newly discovered sister destroying her brother's hammer. Skadi could barely process the events following the moment her brother had so stupidly called out for the Bifrost. She knew that he'd only done so to protect himself and even her, but now he'd done the one thing they knew they couldn't let Hela do and that was getting to Asgard. Skadi hadn't been ready to fight her but would have anyway. She felt sick beyond compare suddenly but that wouldn't have stopped her from saving her home. She wouldn't let her father's mistakes hurt the people of Asgard but now there was no chance of that.

The trip in the Bifrost had been so quick, Skadi scarcely being able to tell what was happening. She remembered Loki pulling her up and pushing her past him, as Thor was now up above them. Thor caught on as if Loki had some silent plan with him because Thor grabbed onto her by her jacket hoisting her up past him as well. In the process, Thor had ripped the jacket off of her. Skadi cried out, reaching down towards it, the Zune had still been in her pocket. With tears now falling from her eyes she could hear Thor cursing out to Loki. She could see Hela quickly catching up to them. The last thing she saw was Loki throwing a dagger down at her before Hela so effortlessly threw him out of the Bifrost.

"No!" Skadi shouted after him, feeling herself being sucked back onto Asgard as Thor and Hela clashed.

Skadi ran out from the Bifrost the moment her feet felt the floor. She was out of breath, rushing over to the sword, seeing Volstagg and Fandral waiting as Skurge mobbed up the mess Thor made when he first arrived. The two warriors saw the distress on her face, sharing a look of concern. _Where were Thor, Loki and Odin_, they wondered.

"Close the Bifrost! Close it now!" She shouted through tears, waving her hand frantically. She hadn't felt this anxious in years. Her heart pumped up through her ears as she could only think how closing the gate would mean leaving Thor with Hela. Amongst that she couldn't believe she'd lost the Zune. Peter had trusted her with it and she just let it go! She should've left it in her room in the palace or had refused to have taken it in the first place. That was all they had of Yondu and now it was gone. And Loki-

Fandral rushed over to her, checking to see if she had any injures as Volstagg moved to question her. Skadi managed to snap out of it, realizing Fandral fussing over her, glaring at Volstagg viciously. They weren't listening to her, they needed to close the gate. "Do it now dammit! Close the Bifrost before she-,"

Skadi halted, stopping as she was about to push Fandral's arms off of her. She heard footsteps coming out of where she'd just come from and whipped her head around hoping to see Thor but knew that it wouldn't be him. Instead, Hela emerged, taking in a deep breath as she fully stepped out of the Bifrost. Her suit seemed to grow greener, the rips and tears mending themselves.

"Who are you and what-," Volstagg shouted but was cut off quickly.

Hela didn't let him finish his question, rolling her eyes instead. She flung her hand out, a sword appearing from her palm and shot out at Volstagg. The man cried out, rolling down to the floor in pain. Skadi cried out, wanting to reach out for him but was tossed to the ground by Fandral, who moved to charge at Hela. Skadi moved to stop him but was too late as Hela met him with a sword to the gut. She moved further into the room, watching as Skadi still sat on the ground in shock with tears streaking down her eyes.

Fandral and Volstagg were still moving, trying their best to reach for their weapons so they could attack the woman. Fandral stood first, looking at Skadi pitifully before nodding at Volstagg. Hela moved closer, itching to finally begin her conquest again. Not waiting another moment, knowing that he only had so few left, Fandral, charged at the woman again. But Hela was strong and the pair of warriors were so weak compared to her. Dealing one final blow to both Asgardians, Hela inched closer to Skadi, forming another sword slowly in the palm of her hand.

Hela was about to end the girl, looking her once over. She cranked her arm back intending to send the sword straight through her heart but stopped her movements after a quick thought. Instead she throw the sword to land an inch away from where she sat, choosing to let the girl live; who knew, maybe the girl could be proven useful?

Skadi narrowed her eyes at the woman, or well, her sister, seeing Fandral and Volstagg's body's laying not too far from them. Skadi slowly stood up, not wanting to seem threatening to Hela just yet. For whatever reason Hela decided to spare her and wanted to use that towards her advantage. She was clearly a top fighter, her power alone could probably take out a whole army.

The woman looked down at her little sister, sensing power radiating off of her. She seemed like a giant bundle of nerves ready to explode. She knew the girl was up to something even though Hela had been so gracious to give her a chance at living. She had some fight in her and Hela liked that.

Hela was far quicker than Skadi could have anticipated for the moment she inched to outreach her hand and freeze Hela were she stood, her older sister had already fixed a dagger between her collar bone and shoulder. Skadi gapped, stepping back and contemplating ripping the dagger out or leaving it in. She wanted to tear it out, feeling the hot pain shooting through her upper body but knew it would be safer to keep it where it was for the time being. With tears of pain and anger Skadi whipped out her other hand, shooting out a cold blast this time nearly hitting the woman but Hela shifted out of the way at the last second.

"Fuck," Skadi cursed as she felt another dagger pierce her thigh, forcing her to kneel onto the ground.

"Such language," Hela chastised, moving past the girl knowing that she wouldn't be fighting back any longer.

Hela looked at Skurge, who'd been watching each Asgardian fall to their knees, one by one by one, without showing any sign of joining them in the fight against her. The moment Hela reached him, he put down his mop, raising his arms up in surrender.

"I'm just a janitor," he said.

Hela rolled her eyes, amused by the man's cowardliness. She could hear Skadi trying to stand back up but the sounds of her grunts showed that Hela had nothing to fear. Turning on her heels, Hela nearly thought about just killing her right then and there, like she'd done with her brothers. But she was curious about the girl and decided not to.

"You should be more like him, he has good survival instincts." Hela laughed, jerking a thumb back to Skurge. She turned back to Skurge, "How would you like a job?"

Hela didn't let him give her an answer of his own, knowing that he'd never say no to her. She moved past him, walking towards the entrance of the room. It's been years since she'd seen her home and seeing the tall, golden buildings reaching up towards that sky put an even larger smile on her face. She had dreamt of this day for thousands of years and it was finally here. She'd finally begin her conquest without her father there to stop her. Ordering Skurge to secure Skadi, warning her if she tried anything she'd be executed for disobeying her new Queen, Hela stepped out onto the bridge walking closer to her destiny.


	15. You're Too Tired to Play the Game

**an. ****whelp****, what else is new? lol I've taken a while again to update. I'm sorry, con season was happening and work is murder ****especially**** with holiday season coming up but ****luckily**** con season has wrapped up for this year until summer so I won't be busy focusing on my cosplay's like I have been these last couple months. I feel like I usually power through these stories and update ****regularly**** around spring time anyways lol. **

**Any who**** enough of that, thank you to everyone who took the time to leave review, which reviews are more than welcome, it makes me want to update and write more if i know people are actually liking this. and also thanks to everyone who either favorited/followed AND everyone who is reading this at all lol. **

**Now back with the story, i'm excited to see how you'll react to this one ;p I also might do what I usually do after not updating for a while and post two chapters in a row, maybe three cause I pretty have all this written out besides like the last 5 or 6 chapters and I'm ready to move onto Infinity War now... **

_Chapter 15: You're Too Tired to Play the Game_

Over the years, there'd been many lessons Dara Ko Eke had learnt; but, there had only been one lesson that she had to relearn twice in order for it to apparently stick. This wasn't the first time following her people into war brought her into a situation like this. She spent how many years in the Kyln before she managed to escape with her old team? She spent too many years to count and now she found herself in the same position again.

Dara was raised to be a proud Badoon, to fight for her people and their cause. She never once questioned the gender-war against the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood, she had always just fought for what the Sisterhood told her to fight for. She never thought twice about how other people of the galaxy perceived them. They were considered disgusting, amongst other worse things. But they didn't understand how evil the Brotherhood truly was. They didn't see the torture and enslavement the Brotherhood put on its people. Even some of the man of their race sided with the Sisterhood when it formed.

For the majority of her life she would say that the people who couldn't see that were idiots. She'd swat down anyone who dared to insult her people. She only saw her side and her side was her people's side. It wasn't until rejoining her home world after the nonsense with the Guardian's, did Dara begin to question. She didn't start questioning the ways of her people right away, of course. At first she was just elated to finally be back home, reuniting with old friends, old family. Dara was just happy to be back after nearly a decade of being locked up.

No, it wasn't until a few years into being back with the Sisterhood did Dara start to question every move her generals and even her mother made. Her mother had been one of the higher ranking generals in the Sisterhood's army, so there had been certain expectation's placed upon Dara, that she more or less didn't agree with. Why were they bringing their war to other planets; other peaceful planets that had nothing to do with the gender-war? Why were her people, who she once perceived as honorable, okay with letting innocence be caught in the middle and killed? She understood the stakes were high, the Brotherhood gaining the support from the Kree Purists, but it was no excuse to sink down to their level.

Whenever she'd voice these concerns, her mother would shoot her down. It was because she'd spent the time she spent out with the Guardian's, she said. Their worldly views tainted her Badoon beliefs and the years spent in a Xandarian prison must've poisoned her mind. Her mother played it off as Dara just needing time to readjust to life with the Sisterhood again. But Dara didn't 'readjust', cursing her old team for making her actually care about people she didn't know instead of just blindly following orders. Her contrasting personality with the Guardian's turned her into one to question everything, a trait she never dared to have as a child and young warrior. Her questioning nature was now what lead her to where she found herself today, once again paying the price with her life for a cause she now was sure she even supported anymore.

The first time she'd ever been capture by the Nova Core all those years ago was different. She felt like it was unjust. Her people were raiding a Xandarian colony, knowing that higher members of the Brotherhood court where staying there for a few days alongside leaders of other races who were interested in siding with the Brotherhood. They ransacked the town, setting it ablaze. By then, Dara had been known decently throughout the galaxy for her skills and brutality. She was no Gamora, but her name still got around. After the job was complete, Dara and a few other members of her unit took to a bar a few towns over. She was cockier back then, if that was even possible, and didn't think that she'd be caught when the Nova Core came running to answer the town's distress call.

Back then, Dara felt pride at being taken captive, the cause was just and good. She'd personally taken out three of the Brotherhood's top commanders, the innocents who died were just unavoidable sacrifices. She'd be a hero to her people whereas the Xandarian's just made another enemy. Looking back, Dara couldn't believe how naïve her thought process was. She'd killed so many innocent people that day and she thought she was a hero for it for so many years.

Dara was still, in no means a saint. She still liked a good fight but thanks to the Guardian's she enjoyed a good fight with someone who deserved it. She realized how much of a bitch she was during her time with them, knowing that yeah, that's partially who she is but now realizing that she acted the way she did because she was fighting to keep her old self while being with Guardians was making her change into someone else entirely.

She hadn't come to this realization until about a little over a year ago when her mother was sending her and a group of Badoon to raid another innocent city. Dara had flashbacks of the raid that gotten her sent to the Kyln, urging her mother to rethink. No more innocent people had to be dragged into their war, the Kree had been doing that enough and the Sisterhood was better than sinking to their level, even thought they'd actually been at the same level for years. Her mother didn't see it that way and ordered the attack to go on as planned.

The Badoon knew the plan would fail from the moment it began. Her unit wasn't prepared to fight the Kree. The Kree had better training, better resources, and they didn't stand a chance against them. Dara did all she could to save her team and any civilian that got in the way to no avail. Dara sat, surrounded by the destruction their battle caused, hearing the Kree killing off any last survivors they found. She'd been defeated, another inhibitor collar resting around her neck as her team lay dead around her.

She'd been sold by the Kree that day. Not only was she the daughter to one of the highest ranking commanders in the Sisterhood, she was also an ex-Guardian of the Galaxy; she had played a big part in killing their praised and celebrated former leader, Ronin the Accuser. She was surprised they hadn't killed her on the spot or at least tortured her in unnamable ways. Later on though, she figured that her fate was worse than death. She'd been imprisoned once again and with this time she saw no escape.

Sakaar was nothing but a trash planet where every unwanted and unneeded thing in the galaxy eventually found its way. The wormholes that surrounded the planet constantly deposited space waste, littering the surrounding fields near the capital city. Even the city itself had littered streets, the buildings beat up and clustered together from the overpopulation. Dara had thought she'd seen true savagery, but nothing compared to Sakaar; this thought wasn't even just from the natural conditions of the planet.

The people who lived in the cluttered city were a whole different kind of people that Dara had never seen before. They were either beggars, thieves, slavers, or slaves. The chain of life here was simple, either be a fighter or be food. The ruler of this planet, the Grandmaster, kept his citizens in constant fear. If you dared to displease him or didn't pay off your debts, you'd have two options depending on his mood. He'd either kill you or force you to fight for the rest of your life in his fighting pits.

Dara had found herself in the pits, shortly after being sold off to some Kree slavers who owed the Grandmaster a debt. She gave them a pretty penny, as the Grandmaster had never had a Badoon warrior before, especially one like her. He put her in the pit right away, eager to see what she could do. At first he was displeased, seeing how the girl refused to fight, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. It took some persuading and a lot of pain on Dara's part but she soon found out that her time would be better spent just doing what the Grandmaster commanded.

She'd take being stuck in the Kyln any day over being stuck in the pits, fighting one fight after another, eventually until she was pit against the Grandmaster's Champion. She hadn't beat him, but she was the first to come close to it and she was also the only one who'd ever fought him without dying. She impressed the Grandmaster with this, earning a little bit of better treatment, seeing that crowds began to cheer for her more and more with every match.

She wasn't free, but this had been the freest she's felt since leaving the Guardians. Dara was able to walk freely around the Grandmasters giant compound and no longer had to sleep down in the dingy and dirty cells that his fighters did. She now had her own quarters, or well, at least semi-own quarters. There'd only been one champion's communal area in the compound, and since she technically wasn't the only champion, she had to share with the undefeated green rage monster who called himself the Hulk.

She'd been on a team with a talking, loud mouthed raccoon and a small talking tree and yet she wouldn't say that they weren't the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. She'd grown fond of the big bulking creature but he was basically just an overgrown, super strong toddler. He reminded her a Groot, throwing tantrums when he didn't get his way or being the most adorable thing you'd ever seen when he felt like it. She would like to think that they were friends, having been sharing a living space together for at least a year now but it was hard to tell with him.

Dara had thought about escaping too. Of course she had but it was impossible the compound was constantly being watched by the Grandmaster's security. She couldn't even try to use her powers if she wanted to because of the little round disk impeded on her neck that his guards could use to electrocute her if she tried. She rather be stuck here, living it up compared to being stuck down in the cells and being pitted against Hulk again.

At least now, even if she was still technically a prisoner she could try and have some semblance of a normal life as she was trying to do right now; she was attending one of the Grandmaster's various parties. He threw many parties throughout the time of her being here, at least four to five a week, especially on weekends when his tournaments went on. Dara was glad she wouldn't be fighting tonight and could actually not care about getting wasted at the moment. She needed the alcohol to numb her growing headache, as she tried to tune out the boring story some newbie was talking about next to her.

This had marked six months since she'd been inside the arena, the Grandmaster seemly growing fond of her and putting her in his favor. He'd allow her to watch the fights up in his private booth ever since, along with showering her with random gifts like fancy clothes and other things that'd wash up on their planet. She wasn't one for such gifts but who was she to refuse and anger the Grandmaster?

"And then, I just let go." The man said, laughing and earning giggles from the few girls that surrounded him.

Dara rolled her eyes, chugging the rest of her drink before heading off to get another. Her eyes trailed off around the room as she waited for the bartender to finish making her drink. She could see the party still in full swing as the Grandmaster's band kept up with a solid cyberpunk tune. The Grandmaster was near them, alongside Topaz, his assistant, who was nauseatingly loyal to him. He was playing along with the band, moving away from what appeared to be another victim of his games.

Looking the man up and down, she noted that he looked stronger than most that were forced into the pits. His muscles looked huge, bigger than Drax's, she noted. His blue eyes quickly glanced over to her, feeling her staring. She raised an eyebrow not caring to look away as she grabbed her drink from the bartender, taking a huge swig.

She noticed that he possibly hadn't been even looking at her to begin with, instead looking at the Grandmaster's new guest and appeared to be calling him over. Dara watched as the black haired man quickly, and sheepishly walked over, shushing the man aggressively. The Badoon couldn't make out exactly what they were whispering to each other and didn't have much time to think or care because she could hear her own name being called by the Grandmaster.

Without lagging, she walked over to him, ignoring the two men looking at her. "Yes, Grandmaster?"

"Ah, this is her! This is my girl!" The Grandmaster exclaimed, pointing a finger at her, eying the two men as he introduced her. "This is one of my champions, Dara Ko Eke, she's the only one whose ever faced my beloved champion and survived, look at her, look."

The Grandmaster spoke as if he was talking about a mere object. Dara had to bit her tongue, like she always had to whenever he showed her off. But objects where what his fighters were to him, they weren't real people who could get hurt or had feelings. They were just there for his entertainment. The Grandmaster placed a hand on the top of the chair the blonde sat in, looking to the black haired man now.

"My new dear friend- Low-ke?" he paused, looking to remember his name but decided to move on, not really caring "Well he has yet to seen my Contest of Champions, and I would like him to join us tonight." The white haired man informed them, not leaving any room to question. He turned back to the two men, motioning between them. "But in any case, do you two know each other, you seem like you know each other?"

"I've never met this man before in my life." Low-ke shook his head, clearly lying as the man in the chair shot him daggers with his eyes.

"He's my brother!" the man shouted at the Grandmaster.

"Adopted," Low-ke shook his head, nervously.

"Is he any kind of fighter? That's all I care about." Grandmaster laughed, amused by the two already.

Dara rolled her eyes as the three conversed, only partially paying attention. She sipped her drink, ignoring Topaz as she glared at the woman. Topaz was insanely jealous of any other woman who had creeped into the Grandmaster's attention. Dara teased her about it silently, always wanting to gag whenever the woman would try and gain her master's attention. She wasn't that bad towards Dara, she was way worse with one of the Grandmaster's worker's, scrapper 142.

Dara's attention was brought back in front of her as the Grandmaster sent off the man in the chair to go get ready for his first fight tonight. Dara couldn't help but feel sorry for the man, he stood no chance against Hulk, especially with the mood she found him in today. For whatever reason he woke up incredibly grumpy, stomping around their room and not caring if he knocked things over. She didn't appreciate the attitude, calling him out on it only for him to bark down her throat and start screaming insults with his toddler vocabulary.

"Now, you two, Dara, dear, I'd like you to help get him ready for tonight; show him around tonight, you know where I keep my contenders and such. I'm trusting you to help me honor our guest, it's not very often we get them." He told her, giving her a slight pat on the cheek.

She wanted nothing more than to sink her claws into his arm and pry his hand off of her but resisted. Instead she gave him a smile, feeling herself cringe as she hated herself for so easily bowing to whatever he asked of her. Nodding and saying that she would, the Grandmaster was pleased and went off to enjoy the rest of his party before having to get ready for tonight.

"Right this way Low-ke," She hissed, her tone reverting to her normal sarcastic and monotone self once the Grandmaster was out of ear shoot.

"It's Loki," He corrected, as he followed her, she began to lead them out of the room.

She was glad her back was too him or else he would've seen her eyes widening at his name. She quickly coughed, chugging the rest of her drink before tossing it to the ground. She heard that name once before.

Skadi, her old team member, the one who'd she enjoyed getting a rouse out of spoke of that name once. It was right after the whole Ego thing and she got her memories back. Loki was the name of her brother, and now that she thought back about it, the man in the chair did share similarities with Skadi. They both had the same blonde hair, Skadi's just being a few shades lighter due to her powers and they shared the same eye color, and similar facial features. If this Loki was that same Loki, then that means that that had to be Thor. Wiping her mouth with her fury arms, she kept her questions in the back of her mind, deciding to question them both later.


	16. Dig In Your Heels and See How It Feels

_Chapter 16: __Dig In Your Heels and See How It Feels_

Skadi wasn't sure at what point she had blacked out. She knew it was shortly after Skurge had forced her to stand, the searing pain in her thigh becoming too much to swallow the moment she was forced to put pressure on it. She did remember coming in and out of it, hearing swords clashing, and guards screaming but besides that nothing. Nothing but vivid dreams of her having to face Peter and explain how she lost the Zune. She tried explaining it, she didn't mean to, her father had just died and then she had to watch as Loki fell from the Bifrost and then Hela- but, Peter wouldn't understand, casting her out.

She eventually forced herself awake, beginning to hear the things going on around her and feeling herself laying down on something soft and plush. Snapping her eyes open, feeling all the sweat on her body from her dreams, she noticed that she was in her room. The window was open, a soft breeze blowing the curtains back and forth. Had it all been a dream? Trying to sit up proved that it hadn't been. She could feel the bandage wrapped around her thigh and looked down to see the bandage that covered her torso up to her shoulder. Wincing has she did manage to sit up, she gulped, seeing Hela standing off at her balcony.

Hela had must've heard her gasp, but didn't turn to look at her, merely tapping her finger nails against the railing. She had a satisfied smile on her face as the wind blew her hair back.

"I've missed this view." She spoke, suddenly, almost spooking Skadi with how normal she sounded. She let go of the railing, stretching her arms out, before placing them back down. "Care to join me?"

Her tone didn't leave Skadi much room to say no, so the girl slowly rose up from the bed. Her body felt like it creaked as she now sat up, her bare feet now placed firmly onto the stone floor. She felt so stiff she couldn't help but ask aloud how long she'd been laying in that bed. She was surprised when Hela casually replied back, "You were asleep for nearly two days, now come, I have things I'd wish to speak to you about."

Skadi's eyes widened. Two days? She'd been out for two days? Flashes off all the things Hela could manage to do in that small amount of time sparked through her mind. She could only image 'this view', she had wanted to share with her. It would be like the stories of Ragnarok, like the ones her mother would yell at Thor for telling his young sister and giving her nightmares for weeks about. The buildings would be on fire, men dead in the streets while mother's tried to keep their children safe from monsters. It would be just like the garden.

Skadi's feet dragged across the floor as she made her way shakenly to Hela, her eyes closing as she finally reached the balcony. With a deep breath, she opened them slowly, blinking as she saw that Asgard wasn't on fire. There were no bodies, or no sound of people crying. She looked up at Hela in confusion. The view was in fact beautiful as the sun set in the sky, causing the golden buildings to shimmer and shine in the distance.

"As a girl I would stay up for hours just looking out my window," Hela spoke, now moving to lean her arms on the railing. "Mother would always scold me because I was too tired in the morning to properly pay attention to my lessons. She didn't understand that I could care less about learning how to make proper stitches instead wanting to go out and see the rest of the world."

Skadi watched cautiously as Hela then pushed herself up. She moved past her and towards the girl's closet. She opened the oak doors, immediately sneering at the different dresses that hung up inside. Moving the dresses around, Hela mentally criticized each one she moved past.

"You actually wear these?" she questioned, pausing to shoot the girl a bewildered look.

"No, Father- well, er, Loki had them made for me." Skadi defended, but cut herself off, not wanting to form familiarities with this woman. She stood in her spot, ready to fly out of the window if need be.

"Oh right, I heard about that." Hela nodded, at first confused by the girl's quick change in people to blame for the atrocity that housed her closet. "I asked around to find out what I missed. It appears our dear _Father _continued to only use his children for his own needs and then throw them out when he was through with them. I've never heard of these_ Kree _before, they came after my time, but I can relate to you. Casted out, only to be used as a pawn in Odin's game. He's done it to all his children and yet the blonde one is still so far up Odin's ass that-,"

"Don't talk about Thor like that!" Skadi shouted, shutting the woman up.

Hela raised an eye at the girl, slightly annoyed to being talked to that way but also slightly impressed. "I was just trying to create small talk, and find you something to wear. I've heard that's what sister's do."

"We aren't sisters," There was a slight tone of sarcasm in her voice, setting Skadi off more. She didn't even realize her powers beginning to set off. The temperature began to drop, causing Hela too look around the room curiously. She swiftly grabbed the simplest dress and threw it at Skadi.

"Get dressed and when you're done my guards will bring you to me, I want to show you something." Hela paused as she moved to the door, stopping before she reached it. Her head lightly craned back to look at her little sister. "Also don't dare try to escape, I'll know. I've given you my kindness and you don't want to become part of the people who haven't been given it. " Hela ordered, moving back towards the door.

Skadi watched as she opened the door, clenching the material tightly in her hands. As the door opened, she stared in horror at the sight in the hallway. Instead of the usual guards Loki had posted outside her room, two skeleton humanoids stood, dark sunken eyes peering into her room until Hela closed the door again.

As the door shut Skadi could feel how her body shook, letting herself collapse to the floor breathlessly. Still clasping onto the material she couldn't find it in herself to breathe. She had no clue what to do. She could easily fly out of the window but how serious was Hela's warning? She saw how ruthless she was back at the Bifrost and even back on Earth.

If she could just get to the Bifrost and get to her friends and Sif, then maybe she could come back with help and stop Hela? No, she couldn't drag them into this. Hela would surely kill them the moment they stepped foot on Asgard; the woman had destroyed her brother's famed hammer for crying out loud. There was no other way but to play along with Hela and whatever game she intended to play with her. But this wouldn't be like Ego again, no, she wouldn't fall for her _kindness. _

After putting on a brave smile and the dress picked out for her, Skadi opened the door, heart pumping the moment the guards made eye contact with her or well she made eye contact with them, seeing at the were just skeletons and had no eyes. She followed as they led her deep into the castle, towards the throne room. The halls were oddly quit, no sign of the palace's usual servants and keep bustling about. There were no warriors in the training grounds with their swords clashing, no lady's off in the gardens adding flowers or just taking a stroll, or lord's heading off to discuss politics in their meeting halls. There was nothing but an eerie silence.

Entering the hall, Skadi had seen the handy work Hela had caused upon her arrival. The murals on the ceilings now rubble on the ground, Hela tearing down the lies that her father told. No one remembered her. She chalked up her siblings not knowing her as simply not recognizing her at first glance, not Odin failing to teach them all of their proper history. They all grew up with goblets and garden parties and worst of all: peace treaties. She scoffed at the thought; Odin was proud to have it but ashamed of how he got it.

The pictures now changed. It was no longer the story's Skadi was told of as a child about how Asgard and the nine realms had come to power by peace. No, instead she saw the image that was blood red, Odin standing up in front of an army with Hela to his right. The two road into battle together, Odin on his horse while Hela road on a giant wolf.

"We were unstoppable." Hela spoke, rising from her throne as she saw Skadi staring up at the wall. She moved to stand in front of her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder once she met her to ease the look of confusion and horror read across her face. "I was his weapon in a conquest that built Asgard's empire. One by one, the realms became ours but then simply because my ambition outgrew his own, the favor of our people grew for me compared to him, he banished me, casted me out and locked me away like an animal."

Skadi was left uncomfortable by Hela's sudden shift in behavior. She came off as kind as she explained Asgard's true history to her. Her hand was careful not to be too harsh so not to irritate her wound. Her voice was soft, reminding Skadi almost of her mother's. The tone of her voice couldn't stop Skadi from feeling somewhat sorry for Hela, knowing that her father had casted her out so easily. She knew that Hela wasn't lying either for Odin had done the very same to Thor, and almost herself; Skadi wouldn't even get started on all the wrong Odin did to Loki even. But Skadi reminded herself to not fall for it, Hela was just trying to get her to her side. Even knowing the truth behind Asgard and knowing that her father had done nothing but lie to his children and people for generations, Skadi knew that she couldn't fall for Hela's tricks.

"Before that Asgard's warriors were honored, their body's buried as heroes beneath this very palace. I've risen them up to rejoin our conquest." Hela explained, letting go of Skadi and moving towards a hall that broke off from the throne room.

Reluctantly, Skadi was forced to follow knowing that Hela was taking her to Odin's vault the moment they headed down the right corridor. Skadi had only been in there once before as a child and she hadn't gotten to fully see it. Her father had been down there with her brothers many times, teaching them history lessons that now Skadi questioned if it was another lie.

Her mother had been giving her sewing lessons and once they were over it was time for dinner. Her mother took her down there to retrieve the boys from their own lesson. She'd been jealous as they ate and the boys talked about how they learned about their grandfather and how he defeated the Frost Giants. Skadi didn't want to sew, she wanted to go into the vault and hear it from her father herself, not from an over excited Thor.

Walking into the vault, Skadi looked at all the different objects her father collected throughout the years. One of the first things that caught Skadi's eye was a golden gauntlet that held what looked like all the Infinity Stones. Gasping, she stared at it in disbelieve, knowing for a fact that last time she checked the power stone had been safely on Xandar. Hela could see her shock and walked up to the gauntlet. Thinking she was going to use the stones, Skadi moved forward, ready to fight her. She stopped though when Hela pushed the gauntlet forcefully off its display.

"Fake," she called out, sounding unamused. She turned to her little sister, rolling her eyes as she continued. "Most of this stuff is fake, or _weak_." Hela noted, before giving herself a chuckle pointing to a glowing blue cube.

She motioned for Skadi to come to her, beckoning her to look at the cube. She remembered seeing the girl using some sort of ice magic back at the Bifrost when she tried to fight against her and then again in her room with the temperature of the room. Intrigued, she questioned the girl, "What are you the goddess of again?"

Skadi looked at her cautiously, unsure what the cube was and what it mattered with what she was the goddess off. She felt like she was back in the Kyln and Hela was Dara, questioning her about her powers. She could see Hela becoming impatient as she waited for an answer. Swallowing, knowing that it was in her best interest to just follow along and do whatever the goddess of Death said, she spoke up hesitantly,

"Winter," she said softly.

"And why is that?" Hela questioned, going further to explain herself, "Father made me the goddess of Death because of my swift actions and strong ability in the battle fields. So what have you done to make you the goddess of winter?"

"I, I- I'm not sure," Skadi stammered, not sure herself as to why her father had named her the goddess of Winter on one of her birthdays. She'd never questioned it as a girl, she just figured it was because out of all the magic's she'd study ice magic came easiest to her and she excelled in the practice; it felt naturel to her. "I just figured it was because ice magic was the one thing I was really good at, I was also born during the winter season."

"Hm, and do you know what this is?" Hela hummed, motioning her head to the object in front of them.

She frowned but was not surprised that her father didn't want her to reach her full potential. She could feel the girl, radiating with untapped power that was waiting to explode and wouldn't allow the girl to go without exploring her full power any longer. The girl scowled, shaking her head no.

"This is the Casket of Ancient Winters; a weapon once used by the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. They used it to vanquish their enemies and fought against us to try and conquer the realms. It can produce an infinite icy wind that can freeze whole cities in a second; with the right user it could send an entire world into an ice age. I'm surprised that as the goddess of Winter, Odin never once mentioned this to you."

Hela watched as the girl eyed it cautiously, as if it would hurt her. She felt uneasy, as if the object was calling out to her to touch it. She'd raised her hand but retracted it, afraid that it was some sort of trap. Hela chuckled, shaking her head at the girl and nudging her forward.

"You can touch it if it pleases you," Hela shrugged, eyeing the object as it glowed brighter when Skadi's hand was close to it. "If you truly are the goddess of Winter, it won't hurt you."

Skadi felt brave as she reached forward, feeling that she had to touch it. She wanted to know why her father never brought her down to show her this. She would bet that Thor and Loki were taught about the Casket of Winters when they were children and felt bitter.

Power surged through her as her hands clasped around the handles of the casket, causing her to jump back in surprise. Hela's curious eyes watched her reaction closely, noting how the girl didn't seem to be in pain; she was lot stronger then Hela thought originally. Smirking she placed a hand one the girl's shoulders, watching as Skadi's eyes were focused on the casket as if it was showing her an entirely new world.

"I'll have one of the forgers use this to make you a weapon. This shouldn't be locked up when there is someone perfectly capable of wielding its powers." Hela informed her before moving passed the girl.

She continued her walk, seeing the space stone resting safety inside the Tesseract down the hall. Skadi followed her with her eyes, letting go of the casket and suddenly feeling weaker but wanted to see more. This could finally be the tour of the vault she always had been denied as a child and she wasn't going to pass it up.

"I've also heard you've had experience with an Infinity Stone." Hela pointed to the Tesseract. Hela didn't stop to see the girl's fearful face staring at the Tesseract and continued on her way only stopping when she found what she had been looking for. "Now this, the Eternal Flame,"

Hela reached her hand into the fiery caldron picking out a flame to hold in her hand. It didn't hurt her, she was used to the fires of Hel, and her magic protected her from it after all since she was the goddess of Death. With the flame still resting in her hand, she looked to Skadi,

"I know you have doubts, I can sense your grief, and your distrust. But trust me when I say I know what it feels like to have your father turn away from you and toss you away like you meant nothing to him." She flickered her fingers, showing off how powerful she was; not just anyone could hold the Eternal Flame as long as she could without being consumed by it. She continued when she saw Skadi's watchful eye,

"You were looked over by Odin simply because you were meant to be his _perfect little princess_ and not a fierce warrior like our brothers. But our brothers were so easily taken down with his training and guidance. I offer you mine and together we will make Asgard once again what it used to be, and share our ways with the rest of the realms. Now are you with me, sister?" Hela asked, clenching her hand into a fist, putting the flame out.

Skadi looked her over, knowing that there was no room to refuse her _oh so gracious_ offer. She just needed to time to come up with a plan to take her down. Maybe once whoever Hela gets to turn that Casket of Winter thing into a weapon that could be all she needed to bring Hela down? Putting on her bravest face, Skadi nodded to her sister, "I'm with you, _sister_."


	17. Raise a Little Hell

_Chapter 17: __Raise a Little Hell_

The crowd's cheers could be heard from the deeps of the halls inside the Grandmaster's compound. The shouts and horns cut Dara's tour of the compound short, though neither her nor Loki were complaining. She couldn't help but feel relieved, sick of having to show him around the large building as the show had begun, the Grandmaster telling them to come up to the booth as the main event began. There was only so much of _"this is where we keep this set of prisoners" _and _"this is where we put the bodies of the contenders who lost"_ that she thought either of them could take.

She hadn't straight up pushed the fact that she knew their sister, but had tried to be as subtle as she could. She asked things like how he ended up here, where you are from, simple questions like that only to get answers that were clearly lies. Wasn't her brother meant to be the God of Mischief or something like that?

She could hear the Grandmaster's opening speech before the final fight of the night begin as the pair approached his private booth. Loki had a smirk on his face, as if he knew something she didn't know. It unsettled her, was he actually happy that his brother might possibly die today? He took a deep, almost satisfying breath in as he grabbed a drink from one of the attendants. He joined her on the large couch that sat before the wide window overlooking the arena. Just as the pair of them sat down, one of the doors below opened, revealing Thor with a new haircut. He was put together with random pieces of armor, the Grandmaster never investing in new gear for anyone besides herself and most of all his beloved champion.

The crowd booed as he stepped out. They weren't here for him, they wanted their champion. They wanted to see this_ Lord of Thunder _stomped on, something Hulk used to wipe the floor with. The Grandmaster built him up match after match, making his people fall in love with the giant green rage monster and hate anyone else who entered the arena. He'd done this with champions before, each only getting dethroned once he found a good enough replacement for them though.

"Now it's time to welcome this guy," The Grandmaster said, his hologram overlooking the theater rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

The crowd slowly began to show their Hulk pride, setting off green smoke bombs from high above, raising signs of praise that they hoped their champion would see. They lost all their senses as you could feel him approaching, the ground shaking beneath them as he approached the arena. There was nothing else like him in this world and Thor was about to find out as the crowd got even louder. Within a second, the doorway across from Thor's was broken open, ripped right in half as the incredible Hulk charged out. He shouted out, yelling to the top of his lungs to get his opponents fear to spike along with the crowds energy. He gripped onto his warhammer tighter, shaking it up in the air, enjoying the cheers and shouts it earned him.

Dara usually rolled her eyes at his theatrics, having once been in in Thor's shoes and still thinking that this entrance was over the top even then. But now knowing the Hulk, it was hilarious how he was such a child and this was something of a simple game to him. He lived for the praise and relished in it. He was just a big child looking for approval. It was slightly adorable except someone usually always died at the end of it. Though, now Dara noted something new. Unlike everyone else who was thrown into the arena with Hulk, Thor didn't quiver in fear or try to escape. No, he simply froze before throwing his arms up in the air and shouting,

"Yes!" He exclaimed, his face looked rather excited.

Thrown off, Dara looked up to the Grandmaster as he had now joined them, walking over to sit down next to her. Turning to Loki, Dara saw him look the way Thor should be right now. He was frozen in shock and fear, his body tensing up and his mouth gaped open.

"I need to get off this planet." He muttered, trying to get up to leave.

"Hey, hey, where you going? It just started!" The Grandmaster spoke, gently shoving him back down onto the couch as he took as seat now next to Dara, leaving her to sit next to Loki.

The confusion of Thor's reaction caused most of the noise from the crowd to die down. They loved when the contender tried to escape or shit themselves. Grandmaster noticed this, his smile faltering and turning into a line as he waited to see what would happen. Hulk was still chanting his own name, refusing to let the crowd stay silent, as he ignored the man. He wasn't going to let the Lord of Thunder ruin what he had worked so hard for.

"Hey! Hey!" Thor shouted, waving his sword above his head, trying to get the Grandmaster's attention. "We know each other, he's a friend from work!"

The Grandmaster gritted his teeth together, slightly confused by this. He turned his head to face Loki, who now held a hand to his lips nervously biting at his nail. Dara noted how this was something Skadi did when she herself was nervous or anxious. Dara wanted to question what Loki knew but couldn't as the Grandmaster was sitting right next to her.

The fight began moments after. Thor had tried speaking to the Hulk, Dara unable to make out the conversation besides Thor pointing out to Loki, causing the God of Mischief to quiver in his boots. Dara watched as Thor was tossed around like a rag doll as the fight first began. He was too concerned with trying to talk to the green rage monster verses actually just fighting him. But once Thor got the point and saw that Hulk was interest in talking, the fight began to shift.

Everyone watching sat in disbelief as Thor managed to actually lift the Hulk-sized hammer and swing it effortlessly. The hammer connected to Hulk's face, crashing him into the siding of the pit and causing him to barrel across it. The crowd let out a grasp as their champion destroyed the arena wall. Dara had never heard the arena so quiet and had never seen the Grandmaster look so dumbfounded. Granted, Thor wasn't the first to hold up their own against the Hulk, she was, but that was only because of the use of her powers. She used her telekinesis to toss the giant creature around only faring well if she kept him at a decent enough distance.

The Hulk tried shaking the hit off, clearly never being hit that hard before. Thor slowly approached him, appearing to be talking as he did so. Confused as to what was happening, Thor outreached his hand, as did the Hulk. Thor gently swiped his hand against his, still talking words no one could make out from their distance. Something shifted though, Hulk's sudden calm face changed, into one of anger. He grabbed Thor's leg and began tossing him to and form like a rag doll, tossing him to the other end of the arena once he was pleased.

Dara surely thought he was dead the moment he smacked against the ground but was surprised when she was him still rustling. She couldn't look any longer, jumping in her skin as Loki suddenly shouted, throwing a fist up in the air, "Ha! That's how it feels!"

Grandmaster and Dara exchanged a look startled by Loki's outburst. Sheepishly but still excitedly Loki replied, sitting back down to watch the show, "I'm just a huge fan of the sport."

Dara couldn't tell how long the fight when on seeing as this was the longest fight she'd ever witnessed with the Hulk. Thor stood evenly matched, throwing hit after hit to the champion. The crowd cheered, but not for Hulk. Hulk didn't like that one bit, managing to stop Thor from blowing another hit with the hammer. With one hand grasping the hammer, Hulk used his other to stand Thor flying across the arena with a hard fist. Without relenting Hulk jumped after him, dealing blow after blow, punch after punch while Thor was down on the ground unable to move, unable to fight back. Dara knew for sure that he was dead. There was no way he could get out of this one. The Hulk wouldn't stop until the crowd was forever shouting his name in victory. He didn't care if this was an old friend, he wouldn't stop.

"What the hell," Dara muttered, shocked as the Lord of Thunder lived up to his name.

A loud boom echoed through the arena as a large lightning strike left Thor's fist, shooting the Hulk up into the air and landing motionlessly on the ground. His helmet was thrown off of him, as the crowd could hear his groans of pain as dust kicked up from the ground on his impact. The Grandmaster stood up, angry that the Hulk was so easily tossed around by this nobody. The crowd felt uncertain as Thor now stood, lightening zapping all around his body, as his eyes glowed. He felt power like he never had before and stared as it flowed through his fingertips. Hulk finally stood, heaving in fury before charging at Thor again. They pair charged at the other, smashing into each other and setting off a giant boom throughout the arena.

The crowd started chanting again, as the dust from the impact settled. At first it took a few seconds for the three onlookers in the booth to realize that they were chanting _"thunder"_ instead of their usual chant. The Grandmaster grew nervous. He didn't want this, he wanted Hulk to rein supreme; this was unacceptable and couldn't happen. Thor was going to win, as he stood up as if the hit did nothing to him whereas the Hulk seemed tired and shaky. The Grandmaster hated intervening, or did he really? Regardless he felt nothing but satisfied as he pulled out a small device from his pocket. Clicking the button on it he watched as the shock disk on Thor's neck activated, causing the Lord of Thunder fall to the ground in pain as his body twitched about.

Dara frowned, knowing that what had happened. This was the exact same thing that happened with her in her fight. She stood up, saying she was going to go get another drink. She didn't want to watch as Hulk now had the opportunity to deal one final blow to the fallen Lord of Thunder.


	18. While the Darkness Can Help You Hide

**an. welp holiday is in full swing and as I've mentioned, I'm a retail worker so, I think that's enough said on why it took so long to update. I'm like half asleep while posting this :( but anywho, thank you to all who are reading and such. **

_Chapter 18: __While the Darkness Can Help You Hide_

The sounds of swords clashing was all Skadi could hear as she studied the training yards from her balcony window. Below she could see Hela's revived soldiers training. _As if they needed it_, Skadi scoffed to herself. The dead were far stronger already than any Asgardian army Skadi had seen. But that was the whole reason why she had to watch. She had to study them, she had to see how they fought and how much of a chance she stood. From the looks of it, she'd stand no chance at all even with the years of being trained by the most dangerous woman in the galaxy, Gamora. She was beyond outnumbered.

"It's such a pity, how far my father let the standards fall" Hela said after she had made her way into the room a while ago now.

She'd been talking about how the remaining soldiers of Odin's loyal army choose death over joining their conquest. The execution of the remaining soldiers had been this morning, Hela having Skadi stand by her side as her army of the dead executed them all. Skadi felt disgusted with herself, the final looks her people gave her still burned in her mind. They looked to her for help but she didn't offer them any. She just stood and watched quietly, ashamed as Hela spoke the orders.

"No one around here respects the crown anymore. I am Odin's first born; Odin's dead so I am their Queen. It's quite simple, it's been that way for years." Hela continued, clearly oblivious to Skadi's clear depressed state. Granted, Skadi had been hiding it pretty well.

Skadi made no indication of responding besides humming. Hela wouldn't have liked her real answer anyways. Days had pasted since Hela promised her a weapon of some kind. She was impatient; she knew the moment she had it she wouldn't be able to execute her plan right away, knowing it'd be smarter to practice with whatever it was first.

Hela finally noted the girl's mundane attitude and paused her conversation. She wasn't stupid, she knew she'd been off since the execution but she figured that it was only normal. She'd been brainwashed for so long to be loyal to her old family and everything did happen so quickly. But she knew with an adjustment period and understanding, along with some patience, things her father never had, Skadi would confidently join her side. She at first was concerned the girl would back out, choosing death over joining her but lost all concern when the pair opened up about their experience a night ago. Hela managed to get the stiff girl to talk about her time with the Kree, and then with a pirate crewed she called the Ravagers.

Hela questioned her about the Infinity Stone but Skadi glazed over it, Hela knowing that she was purposely not telling her any specifics. Hela tried to push it but in the end left it alone, having a sister was still new to her and she'd let Skadi come to her when she was ready to talk about it. As a child Hela always wanted a younger sister to look up to her; Hela would train her to become the goddess and princess that she was meant to be.

"I've brought you a present." Hela piped up, as she noted her guard motioning to her from the doorway.

Brushing the girl's light hair off of her shoulder as she stood close by her, Hela smiled as Skadi turned to her. Skadi put on a fake smile, calling back to the skills Yondu had long taught her. Hela hadn't suspected a thing over the last few days as Skadi acted as if she decided to side with her. Skadi knew it was the only way to gain her trust. She used their mutual resentment towards their father as her way in.

"Is it what I think it is?" Skadi smiled lightly, pretending to be playful to hide her distaste; she didn't want to accept anything from this woman but this was a necessity.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hela teased, moving backwards and signaling the two guards standing near the doorway to open it.

From the door, Skadi saw a handful of her handmaidens be ushered in, all wearing scared looks on their faces as they tried their best to be a quick as possible. They didn't want to anger their Queen, seeing as how many servants and staff had been executed already from either displeasing or disobeying Hela.

Skadi could tell that they hated her; they already were annoyed by her from the hard time she'd constantly gave them whenever they had to dress her or get ready for whatever stupid thing Loki dragged her to over her first week being here. But she was considered a traitor now. She openly sided with the person who stole the crown from her family and killed the princes, alongside slaughtering so many innocent Asgardians.

Skadi didn't blame them either. She hated herself as well. She was so weak that she had to wait to get this so called weapon Hela was making her to even have a chance to defeat her. She had just started to feel like she was an actual fighter, after being trained by Gamora and excelling in her magic but really who was she to think she was on par with actual Gods? She fought thugs and cut throat Kree. That was nothing compared to this.

Turning back to her handmaidens she saw one of them carried a wooden box, engravings of different Asgardian ruins etched onto it. Another carried what appeared to be a long piece of cloth while the rest each carried different pieces of armor. Hela motioned for the ones carrying armor and the cloth to place it down on Skadi's bed while ordering the one carrying the box to bring it to her. The handmaiden curtsied as she stood in front of the Queen and Princess, holding the box out in front of her. Hela opened it with a smile, excited to show her sister what she had made for her.

"I've been taken by the interest you've shown in the training grounds. I'm hoping now with this, you'll let me begin you're proper training." Hela smiled, reaching in and pulling out two armbands.

The metal shined in the light, flickering as Hela held them up in each hand. They were simple with only a few carvings circling the top of each band. Skadi recognized the symbols; the symbol for ice, power and protection came first followed by the symbols that warriors would carve into their swords that would bring them success in combat, along with courage and fear. Skadi would be lying if she said she didn't like them. She knew Hela simply wanted to use her apparent ability to be able to use the Casket of Ancient Winters to be able to conquer planets but she was at least touched that her sister had taken an interest in her that she had long wished her father did.

"I had Asgard's greatest builder forge this with the combined power of the casket. You'll be unstoppable once you've fully learned how to master its power." Hela explained, handing her one to try on but pulled it back. "But before you start you're training actually, there's another part of this present. A warrior needs armor."

Skadi let out a gasp as she got a closer look at the armor Hela had made for her. It was beautiful. The metals were a pure silver, shining and new. The body armor covered down to her waist and up to her breasts; Skadi noted how it was form fitted and would surely show off her curves but still give her protection. A dark grey leather belt with a holster for a pair of daggers and sword attached and a snowflake metal buckle added for _flare_, as Hela described it. The fabric to wear underneath the chest piece was a stretchy, slicky black bodysuit that would allow her to fly around and be as flexible as possible without being restricted like a full suite of armor would be. There was also shoulder pads that matched her chest plates, with a light blue fabric to wrap around her upper arms down to her wrists. The only other piece of protection were armored leg guards that reached her thigh and acted as a boot covering for a pair of light weighted, blue boots, matching the arm wrap. The only other piece to note was a black cloak that had a piece of white and grey furs covering her shoulders, as if Skadi could ever get cold enough to actual need furs.

"I hope you like it, I know you're not accustomed to wearing such a thing after spending all those years in space but this is how a princess and goddess of winter should dress for battle." Hela said smiling as Skadi seemed to already be fallen in love with the outfit. She patted her back, handing her the armbands and ordering the hand maidens to help get her dress. "I guess we can no longer call it the Casket of Ancient Winters, so perhaps we'll just replace casket with gauntlet? Yes, the Gauntlets of Ancient Winters. Now get dressed, we start training immediately, sister."

Skadi nodded, knowing that she now had the power the take down her sister. She had to plan this through though. She couldn't just jump in and attack her without a plan. Skadi had to be smart about this and she knew had to figure out a way to outsmart her sister.


	19. Pack Your Things and Leave

_Chapter 19: Pack Your Things and Leave_

Dara didn't know why she cared as much as she did, but, she did. She didn't have to watch over the Lord of Thunder as he laid out on a mat on the floor of the champion's quarters. She didn't have to eye him up and down as the healers went to work on him. She could be doing anything else besides chastising her grumpy roommate as he soaked up his aches and pains in their hot tube. Dara wasn't the caring type or at least that's what she tried to convince herself over all these years. So, Dara didn't know why she did, but, she couldn't help but feel bad as she saw the bruises and cuts littering the well-sculpted prince of Asgard.

_Stupid Asgardians_, she thought from her spot on a plush chair. They were all so stupid and eager to get themselves killed. She learned this first hand from being on a team with Skadi. Granted, Thor didn't have much of a choice to fight but still, he reminded her greatly of her old team member. She often thought back to her short time as a Guardian. She wondered how they were doing, she still heard stories of course, they were still out and about saving the Galaxy but she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if she hadn't left them. If she had tried to be a part of their family a little harder. She knew for a fact that she wouldn't be here.

She had soon left the champions quarter's not wanting to continue to be lost in thought over it. She rolled her eyes at herself, getting a weird feeling that more was going on than simply Thor and Loki being stuck on Sakaar. Now that she knew who they were she couldn't play it off as a simply coincidence. It was one thing for one of them to wind up here but for both of them? Especially after Loki's initial reaction to seeing his brother. There was something inside Dara telling her to walk away from it but she had this nagging feeling telling her to look into this further.

Finding her way back into her room after hours of pacing around the compound and stopping at one of the bars to find a drink, she stood in the doorway. She could see as Thor stood near the large window of the room, staring out to the world outside as if he was in some sort of trance. She could see Hulk off in his giant bed, snoring loudly. Clearing her throat as she made her way into the room, he jumped, his eyes flickering from a shade of gold back to his shade of blue. Raising a questioning eyebrow, Dara looked him up and down waiting for an explanation.

He took a deep breath, startled by not only her sudden appearance but from the vision he'd just had. He'd been taken to Asgard by Heimdall and shown the destruction Hela had brought to it. His sister, Skadi was practically being held prisoner, unable to make a move against Hela alone and now was forced to follow her; or at least that's what he hoped. Heimdall had told him that he could see her struggle and want to fight but knew the odds were against her.

Thor though couldn't help but feel a sting of mistrust, Loki and now Hela leaving him with trust issues within his siblings. He hadn't seen Skadi in years, he didn't know her from a hole in the wall. How could he know if this was a trick of some sort? Never the less, he tried pushing these thoughts into the back of his mind and still begged Heimdall to watch over her and try to free her from Hela's grasp until he could find his own way home.

"You okay there?" She asked him, her voice trailing off as she stood in the center of the room.

"No," He said simply, wiping his hand across his beard, trying to wipe his worries away with it. "No I am not. I need to get off this damned planet."

"Good luck with that," She chuckled, moving to go sit back in her chair. She nodded to him as she sat, not wanting his attention to leave her. "You're Skadi's brother, aren't you?"

Thor looked at her harshly, uneased that she knew that. He felt even more off edge now. Hela had sent her here, and now here was someone who knew his sister; his sister who was conveniently back on Asgard with the goddess of death.

Now being the one to look her up and down, he puffed his chest out a little more, "How do you know my sister?"

"We go way back, short of." Dara started off, grabbing a piece of fruit from the nearby table. Taking a bite and chewing before speaking again, she wiped her chin. "We stopped Ronan from destroying Xandar with the power stone, then saved the world from her boyfriend's evil dad a few months after. That was four years ago although and I haven't seen her since."

"Whh-aa-t?" Thor questioned, faltering in his stance. He was once again brought to how he barely gotten to speak with his sister, having had to leave Asgard the moment he arrived. He had so many questions for her and wanted to know where she'd been, how she gotten back to Asgard.

Before his fight with Hulk he'd been down in the cells when Loki appeared to him, obviously using his magic because Loki didn't care enough to physically go down there. Loki did answer one of his questions, saying he'd finally found their sister, now that he had full access to the Bifrost and sword, using deep and dark magic to bring her back home. Thor was furious that he lied to their sister and still hadn't fully forgiven him for helping her run off in the first place. He didn't want to image what she'd been through while taken by the Kree.

He repeated the words the Badoon spoke to himself again. He'd never heard of this Ronan before, but he did know of the power stone. His father had once taught him of the Infinity Stones alongside Loki when they were boys. That much didn't make him think, Skadi had always wanted to be a warrior and he knew she had it in her. Stopping this Ronan guy from using the power stone to destroy a planet wasn't what was so concerning to him. No, there was something else that the Badoon mentioned about his sister that somewhat struck a nerve in him.

"Boyfriend?"

"Really? That's what you got out of that?" Dara shook her head, taking another bite. "Yes, boyfriend. She has one last time I checked; he's a moron but then again so is she,"

"Have care with how you talk about my sister," Thor warned, raising a finger at her, his steps heavy as he moved closer to her.

Dara rolled her eyes, but continued regardless, "I take it you haven't caught up with her in a hot minute. I thought once she regained her memories she'd rush back home or something. She nearly got us all killed trying to get Peter to _reconnect_ with his father."

"And Peter is her boyfriend?" Thor questioned, not really following. He moved to stand in front of her, his hands resting on his hips.

"Yes, Peter Quill, but he calls himself Star-lord," She rolled her eyes, still not taking his '_code name' _seriously.

"That's a stupid name," Thor muttered under his breath, already not liking the guy.

"You're telling me." Dara laughed out loud, nearly spitting out her fruit.

Thor nodded to her, feeling slightly amused but now more anxious than before. He needed to get off this damned planet and after his conversation with the Hulk only a few hours ago, he had no one to help him. He felt so relieved when he first saw the giant green rage monster in the arena; he had saw his ticket out of there. He could picture the pair of them teaming up, tearing through this place and stealing a ship and racing off to Asgard and saving his home. But Hulk had plans of his own and Thor couldn't help but not blame him. The more he thought about it the more he knew why Hulk liked this planet. People were truly afraid of him on Earth and it was true that Thor was never particularly close and or the nicest to Banner.

He turned to face the Badoon, eyeing her up and down before an idea sparked in his head. She had said she had once worked with Skadi to save a planet and the whole galaxy, she also appeared to be friends with the Hulk. Could he use her to convince the Hulk of joining him? And her also? Surely, she didn't want to stay on this planet forever and could promise her freedom if she helped him escape. If Skadi had trusted her enough to be on a team with her then Thor could trust her as well.

"How would you feel about saving the galaxy again with me?" He asked her, putting on his most charismatic smile. Dara stared blankly at him, only shifting her expression to raise an eye at him. He could see that she wasn't impressed by his charm and groaned. His desperation showed in his eyes as he moved closer to her, "Look, I really need to save my planet. My eldest sister, Hela, has been freed because of Loki and is now causing Ragnarok, the end of my world and people, and most likely holding Skadi as a prisoner. I need your help to get off this planet and convince Hulk to join us. I need all the help I can get."

Dara blinked at him. She was unsure of half of what he said, not knowing what Ragnarok was or who this Hela person was, Skadi never mentioning she had a sister during the short time Dara was there when her memories first came back. But Dara couldn't ignore and be unsure of the fear in Thor's tone. She could feel it radiating from him to her. Blinking again, once swearing that she'd never join the hero life again, she opened her mouth to speak.

"What about Loki? Can't he help you?"

"Loki cannot be trusted." Thor shook his head, frustrated. He couldn't count on his brother in the slightest, there was no point in trying to bother with him any longer. "Please,"

Dara nodded, taking a deep breath. She wasn't stupid, she knew that the chances of them somehow getting off this place was slim but she didn't know how much longer she could play nice with the Grandmaster. And if they failed, Dara knew they'd die trying and there wasn't much else for her to live for here so what was the point of declining Thor's offer? Say yes, and have the possibility of escaping and being free or say no and forever be doomed to live on this planet until she eventually died of old age; it was pretty much a no brainer.

"Fine, but we're going to have to get these probes off our necks," She jerked her thumb at her own probe. "We'll need our powers to get off of this place and the moment Grandmaster knows what we're up to we'll be fried to no tomorrow."

"Agreed, have any idea?" Thor said, beginning to pick and pull at his own, hissing at it zapped him.

"Well not like that-," Dara began, crossing her arms against her chest as she was cut off by Hulk's grunts.

She turned to look at him, seeing as he rustled about in his bed, sitting up and staring at them. His face looked tired and annoyed; their conversation waking him up. The Hulk looked between the two, seeing Thor's upset face as he quickly gave up on trying to pull the device off by force.

"Thor's sad."

"Shut up." Thor pouted, not bothering to look his way.

"Thor's sad!" Hulk insisted on being paid attention too. He stood from his bed, walking past Dara and roughly pushing Thor to the ground as he repeated himself loudly, almost amused.

"Idiot! I'm not sad; I'm pissed off!" Thor shouted, pulling himself up with a glare. His anger increased as Hulk pretended to care, making a fake 'awh' sound as Thor pushed past him. Thor kicked the nearest object to him, causing it to jet across the room. "I'm angry! I've lost my father, I've lost my hammer, and I'm stuck here with you!"

Dara quickly took a seat, wanting to watch the fight explode from the background, amused as the Hulk was finally being talked to like this by some else besides her. Eyes jetting to the green champion, Dara watched as Hulk continued to fake pity as Thor vented his worries. Thor kicked a shield laying on the ground, angry that Hulk wasn't listening to him. Having enough of being talked to like this, Hulk picked up another shield, wiping it across the room.

"You're being a very bad friend!" Thor shouted as the shield narrowly passed him.

"You bad friend!"

"You know what we called you? We called you the stupidest Avenger!" Thor breathed heavily, definitely pushing the bounds of what Dara would say was what could push Hulk into kill mode.

"You tiny Avenger!" Hulk shouted, feeling the rage burn even more in his veins. He picked up the next closet weapon near him, wiping it even harder towards Thor.

If Thor hadn't ducked in time, he'd surely be in two pieces on the floor. Thor paused, stunned as he saw an axe now impeded into the wall behind him. He couldn't believe that the Hulk would be so careless. Throwing a shield around was one thing; their friend Steve Rogers did that all the time. But Thor would be dead right now because Hulk was acting like a child. The God of Thunder turned to Dara, seeing if she shared his bewilderment. He huffed, seeing her watching amusedly snacking on another piece of fruit.

"What, are you crazy?" Thor shouted at his old friend. His rage matched the Hulk's as he saw him now pick up a Hulk sized-mace. "You know what? Earth does hate you!"

Against what Dara thought would've happened after that comment, Hulk seemed to actually be deeply offended by that comment. His face looked like it was about to break, like he was about to cry like a child. It reminded Dara of when Groot was a little tree and was told he couldn't stay up a few minutes longer and had to go to bed. Or when he'd get in trouble for getting into Rocket's tools or for stealing Drax's Zarg-nuts. She felt herself want to lash out at Thor but stopped herself, instead standing up from her spot and giving him a disapproving look.

"Low blow, even for me." Dara stated before walking over to sit next to Hulk as he pouted on his bed. She placed a gentle hand on his large arm, feeling bad for the big guy.

"Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things.' Thor started, walking up to them. "You aren't the stupid Avenger, no on calls you that. You just can't go around throwing axes and shields at everyone."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry I just get so angry. Hulk always angry." He tried explaining, shaking his hands and clenching them to fists to better explain himself.

"I know, we're the same you and I. Just a couple of hot-headed fools." Thor agreed, as Dara looked between the two, feeling as if she was out of place.

"Hulk like fire. Thor like water," Hulk nodded, looking down to Dara as if for her to agree with him.

Dara scrunched her face, unsure of that analogy, "No I think you'd both be like fire, if you're both hotheaded, Hulk."

"But Hulk like real fire. Like flaming fire, Thor's like smoldering fire-"

Dara could sense Thor about to retort and for once not wanting to encourage another fight, Dara cut them both off by placing a hand on either one of their arms. "You're both the fire, we've settled on it, let's move on. How are we going to get out of here?"

Thor met Dara's eye as she looked at him, quirking his lip as he thought. Another idea clicked in his head, turning to look past her and up to Hulk, "Hulk I need you to do something for me."


	20. We'll Resist 'Til We Reach the Dawn

_Chapter 20: __We'll Resist 'Til We Reach the Dawn_

Gamora had always said that she worked Skadi until she couldn't feel her body; Skadi had always believed the green assassin, always collapsing onto her bed afterwards in a heap of groans and kinks that had to be stretched out. She'd always complain to Peter as he would massage out her sore muscles about how Gamora had gone too hard on her again, and she didn't understand why she was the only one who had to go through these training sessions. Did you see her doing this to Rocket? Or Groot? Or dare she even say Mantis? No, Skadi would say. Sure Rocket had his weapons and Groot was barely allowed on missions. And Mantis had her powers but so did Skadi.

But it was only now would Skadi wish to be back there on her bed, not only to be there with Peter but to be trained by Gamora. She missed their training sessions. She missed feeling that bond they had created. Instead she now walked next to her sister towards the entrance of the palace after spending another day being beaten down. Her body hurt more than ever after days of training with Hela. She got no rest afterwards, Hela putting her straight to work afterwards with reading about battle strategies and more intense magical spells.

Skadi didn't have time to complain even if she dared to out loud. She was learning much and quickly too. She didn't think being nearly beaten to death everyday would be as affective until a couple of training sessions ago when she managed to knock Hela down. She hadn't realized it, only focusing on learning how to use as much power from her gauntlets as she could, but Hela did in fact have a weakness. She'd never defend herself when fighting, she was too confident in herself and assumed too much about her opponent, always leaving herself a blind spot somewhere, and the trick was just finding it.

Skadi had been once again knocked down onto her back to avoid being pierced by another one of Hela's blades. Skadi could feel her anger rising, furious that the gauntlets weren't doing what she thought they would. Weren't they supposed to be able to wipe out entire battle fields? Make a snow storm as cold and deadly as she wanted? What Skadi hadn't realized was that she was thinking too much into it. She wasn't listening to her instincts, instead trying to force things that clearly couldn't happen in a blink of an eye.

It was when Skadi's head hit the ground harshly that it clicked or more so something snapped within her. She could feel the anger freezing over inside of her, like a ravaging beast. She felt as if her blood freezing over and for once she actually felt frigid. She listened as she could hear winds blowing in her mind as she felt her body rise up from the ground. She hovered over the ground, throwing off Hela as a tornado of cold wind and thick snow swirled around her, protecting her from the swords and daggers Hela now through her way.

Skadi was almost in a trance as the Ancient Winters took control of her. She barely realized but at the same time felt herself forming the snow churning around her form into sharp shards of ice, harsher and smaller than she'd ever made before. With a simple flick of her wrist, as her arms were outreached to either side of her, the shards rained down towards her sister. Hela would've smirked, if only she had the time too, having to jump out of the way in an instant as she felt slashes forming on various parts of her body. She shot up her own hail of daggers, knowing that Skadi was finally getting the hang of her powers thanks to her training.

The daggers the dark haired woman aimed up at her were swiftly and forcefully swiped away; Skadi feeling instincts she never had before swarm her senses. The daggers jetted off to the side by a thick wave of snow, finding themselves imbedded into a couple of unlucky skeleton soldiers. This was Skadi's chance, she was on a roll; she could see through her glazed over white eyes Hela start to panic as ice slowly crept her way, entrapping her feet. This was for her people, this was for her brothers, and this was for her.

Hela grunted, smashing the ice at her feet with an axe she formed, only to for it to reform thicker. Gritting her teeth, she prepared to call for her soldiers to take aim. She didn't want to show weakness, she was just off put by the sudden change in odds. She had a mission and she couldn't quite finish it if she was a block of ice, now could she? Just as her guards readied to join the fight Hela felt a slight change in the air, waving her company off to hold for a minute.

Skadi faintly faltered, her body descending lower towards the ground slowly. She could feel a soft voice almost calling to her, telling her to stop. The voice sounded familiar but in her deep trance she couldn't make it out. What she could make out was her concentration breaking as the ground became closer and the air not as cold. She held her breath as she felt her feet touch the ground. What the hell happened? She totally had it, she cursed to herself now realizing she was in a ton of shit. Hela knew that Skadi was trying to kill her now, there was no going back. That wasn't simple training that was a full blown murder attempt. She was done for.

The guards raced to secure Skadi, tightly grabbing at her arms and shoulders, keeping her in place even as she tried to jerk away, cold snaps retracted out and in from her palms, but no stronger power left her; the gauntlets completely draining her from energy. She watched as Hela was now free, rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand, wiping the blood away that leaked from one of the gashes Skadi gave her. At first, the look she gave Skadi made her quake in her boots. Hela's dark eyes spoke for themselves, Skadi was going to die. But something shifted, just as quickly as Skadi had seconds ago. Hela now spread her arms out, laughing, her open arms almost looking like she was inviting Skadi for a hug.

The guards holding her let her go at Hela's sudden movement, as if she mentally told them what to do. One pushed Skadi towards their Queen, edging her to move to her. Wordlessly, and still confused and freaked out by what had just happened, Skadi once again just went along with it, stuttering out how she was sorry. She mine as well try and act like it was a mistake, it would do her no good now acting otherwise.

"Sssh," Hela eased once her sister reached her, placing her arms around her back and pulling her to a hug. "Don't be sorry; be proud. You just showed why our father named you as the goddess he did, you also showed me that together we will be more powerful, more unstoppable than father and I had ever been. Together we will fulfill our destinies."

Hela let her go, taking a step back and looking around them, seeing that the sun was starting to set. With a deep breath, inhaling more of Asgard, she turned to one of the handmaidens she had stationed near the training field awaiting orders. Calling her forward, she turned back to her sister, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Rest up, I think it's time we begin." Hela informed her, turning to face her soldiers, "Tomorrow we set off to begin our conquest!" she shouted for the whole yard to here and be met with the sound of her soldier's clanging the bottoms of their spears to the ground in response.

She barked at the frightened handmaiden to have her and the others prepare her sister a hot bath and meal, so she'd be properly taken care of before tomorrow. She turned to Skadi now, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze of happiness before letting go. "I have to attend to a matter, I'll call for you in the morning sister, rest well for tomorrow starts a new era for us all."

Skadi watched as her sister moved away from her, feeling the nerves start to set in even more so. She felt herself biting her fingernails as the handmaidens rushed over and ushered her away and into the palace. She had no time left, Hela was going to be unleashed upon the galaxy in less than a day. She had to think quickly, she had to come up with some sort of plan to stop her. The blonde tried to think of what Gamora would do, and figured she'd already tried that. Gamora would've fought her and she would've died trying; Skadi was too scared to do that.

She didn't even protest as the handmaidens stripped her of her armor and then clothes when usually she'd already be shooing them away insisting once the armor was undone she could handle the rest. She didn't stop them when she was stripped naked and led to the now awaiting bath of steaming off water; even as a young girl she'd assert she knew how to bath herself. But no, this time she let them brush through her wet hair with soaps, and scrub away at her back and arms, like a princess should. She was too lost in thought and the pit in her stomach that had been feeling more squeezer than usual was returning.

In a flash, it seemed like she was already out of the tub and dressed in some of the finest silk robes and hair braided to dry. Her handmaidens excused themselves after cleaning up, themselves planning on now trying to escape now knowing Hela's plans. There were rumors of citizens finding a safe place to hide from her in Asgard.

Skadi sat on her bed as they left her alone, her only focusing on the sharp headache in her right temple. Her head was spinning as she kept scrapping plan from plan, all garbage. She wasn't good at this stuff; she was good at following orders not giving them, she needed Peter and Gamora here, telling her what to do. Soon enough was enough and she felt all her worries moving up from her stomach and up her throat. Snapping out of it, she realized what was happening and raced towards her bathroom. Asgard didn't have the type of toilets she was used to but she reached her chamber pot, releasing the contents of her stomach into it.

Pushing her hair back out of her face, she felt tears running down her cheeks as she heaved again and again, until there was nothing left but a sick feeling. Sitting back, and letting out a deep breath, Skadi stared into the darkness off the room. Only a small light was shown from the only candle left lit but she didn't complain, the darkness, along with her now relieved stomach made her headache start to fade into a lull.

She didn't know how long set sat on the cold tile floor but all she could think about was how she just wanted to go back home. Her real home, back with her real family. She wanted Peter, and the others not only to help her out of this but just for them themselves; she missed her family. She wanted no more than to go to the Bifrost and-

"Oh my god," she gasped, an idea clicking in her head, causing her to jolt up from the floor. "I'm such an idiot."

She rushed into her room, quickly throwing off her night clothes and throwing her armor back on. Quickly putting on her armbands, she prayed to whoever would listen to let her keep control over them. After fully dressing and re-braiding her messed up hair, she found her bag she came with and packed it back up. She frowned, thinking back to the Zune, cursing herself about it again. But her frown changed to a smile as she picked up the wreath Groot had made her. _Don't worry I'm coming home guys_, she thought to herself, tucking it back into her bag carefully before swinging it over her shoulders. Lastly she threw on her cloak, sinking her cheek into the fur for comfort and then turned to her window.

Going back to her days as a ravager she made sure to stealthily fly out of her window, avoiding detection from the guards below. She snuck through the palace grounds, hiding behind pillars and crouching until she found herself at the rocks below the entrance of the city facing the Bifrost. Hela's guards would be up there so she was careful as she took a deep breath, exhaling and breathing in one more time. Outreaching her left hand she let a soft breeze stretch out in front of her. The water before her began to freeze, creating a pathway underneath the bridge. Looking above her to check to see if she had been noticed, she smirked in victory when she saw that she hadn't been.

Skadi knew better than to rush, wanting to avoid detection as much as possible, so she took her time creating the pathway to walk across the water inch by inch. It had taken a long time but she found herself standing below the entrance to the Bifrost soon. There were only two guards at the large doorway, and it was too far to be seen from the other end of the bridge but Skadi didn't want to take her chances fighting them so instead she simply froze them where they stood. They didn't have a chance to flinch as the Ancient Winters made her ice work quicker.

She hopped up onto the bridge cautiously, tapping on the ice like it was glass. Confirming that they were indeed frozen solid, Skadi outreached her hands towards the pair of them, clenching her fist and causing them to shatter into pieces. To avoid leaving a trail, she swatted the ice away, letting the pieces fall to the waters below. Once she was sure again that no one saw her, she entered the Bifrost.

"Okay, Skadi you got this, you just gotta take the sword and hide it-," Skadi said, creeping in, the moonlight being her only light. She stopped mid-sentence though as she realized the sword wasn't where it was supposed to be. She cried out, "Where's the sword?"

"With me," A deep voice suddenly appeared.

"Shit!" Skadi jumped, turning around and racing her hands, letting an aura of white emit from them. She retracted when she realized who it was stepping out from the shadows of the room. Removing their hood, Heimdall revealed himself to her. She hesitated before completely letting down her guard.

"I've been waiting for you." He spoke, stepping more into the light.

"Where have you been? I could've used your help! They said you were banished!" Skadi nearly shouted, having so many questions race out of her. She paused, looking at the sword, and then to him. "Why haven't you gotten help?"

Heimdall chuckled at the girl, who was still as demanding and full of question like she was as a child. Sheathing his sword, having been using it to lean his weight on, he spoke, "It wasn't the right time. You know I see more than you do, we must wait until your brother's return. Only together do you have a chance of defeating Hela."

"Hela killed my brothers." Skadi shook her head, at him, frowning.

"Thor and Loki still live; Hela only sent them far away." He informed her, ushering her to stand away from sight of the entrance, just to be safe. "I've spoken to Thor, he is finding a way to get back here as we speak."

"They're alive?" Skadi near whispered, in shock and relief. Her eyes darted around, feeling hopeful that she could now stand a chance against Hela. Her paranoid mind still got the better of her at the end of it, "Well, unless they can get here by morning, there's no point. Hela's going to continue her _conquest_" Skadi frowned eyeing Heimdall as he raised an eyebrow at her. She was at first confused but then it hit her, "But, you have the sword! So Hela can't leave!"

"Yes, but I can only hold her off for so long. She will find me soon." Heimdall nodded, "You must go back, keep up your ruse a little longer and wait until they arrive," Heimdall fully made his way up to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. The gatekeeper's bright yellow eyes tore into her and he spoke, "Hela mustn't suspect anything."

"Yeah, okay- I-I c-can do that." Skadi shook her head trying to fight against her stammer. She let her hands fall to her sides, gripping onto her cloak for reassurance. "I should head back then, get some rest so she's not suspicious."

Skadi moved to leave, but Heimdall halted her, outreaching his arm to stop her from leaving. She walked into it and looked up at him questionably. He let his arm fall as he opened his mouth to speak again, "You're friends are safe. Their mission took a little longer than expected, they have not reached Xandar or Lady Sif yet."

Skadi laughed sheepishly, as Heimdall looked as if he was outing a child for pulling a fast one over him. She rubbed her arm as she looked at him. She was going to respond, explain herself for sending Sif away but Heimdall cut her off, "You did the right thing, Lady Sif would've been slaughtered amongst all the other warriors; you'll need as many of them as you can get for the coming battles. Loki had many tricks up his sleeves during your absence but he is learning from his past discretions."

"Battles?" Skadi thought, as she stared at the gatekeeper questionably. "I thought you said once Thor-,"

"Yes, defeating Hela you will do, but at a cost. As I've said, I see m-."

"Yeah, yea, I know," Skadi cut him off this time, waving her hand with a roll of her eye, impatiently, pushing past him. "You see more than I do, I get it."

"You'll know when it's time," Heimdall chuckled as he watched the young princess go, readying himself to leave as well. He had so little time to prepare and there were a few more Asgardians he needed to get to safety; he was running out of time.


	21. Your Former Glories and All the Stories

**an. Holiday season hasn't killed me yet but I can slowly feel myself starting to burn out. Retail sucks this time of year BUT it's almost over and I'll have the energy to go back into writing this more frequently! **

**thank you to everyone whose either favorited/followed this story :) its good to know that people are still enjoying it. and thank you to those who took the time to review! I LOVE feedback! **

_Chapter 21: Your Former Glories and All the Stories_

The bag packed by the Badoon, sat at her feet as Dara waited along with Thor for their plan to finally start taking off. The footsteps approaching towards the champion's quarters alerted the two that the plan was finally in motion, the sound of the Grandmasters favorite scrapper taunting the guards posted at the doors confirming it. Dara made eye contact with the dark skinned beauty, only ever seeing her around with the Grandmaster or whenever her and Hulk would train. The two never really hit it off, but the two didn't really have anything against each other either. With a curt nod to each other Valkyrie made her way deeper into the room towards Hulk.

Dara had questioned why they needed her besides the whole removing the collar thing, Thor saying how he wished to bring her along with them. It was until he said that she too was Asgardian and had faced this Hela lady before. _You Asgardians are popping out of the wood work lately_, Dara had commented after learning this.

"Hey big guy," Valkyrie greeted the green giant.

"Little girl," He greeted back as the pair began to play fight, as they usually did.

Dara rolled her eyes at the pair. Hulk let her knock him down, causing her to clue in that maybe the Hulk called her here for some other reason besides training. With a hint of playfulness at first, her voice trailed off as Thor made his presence known, popping out from behind a shelf, fidgeting with his shirt and hands before settling on keeping them held down in front of him.

"What do you want? What's going on?" She asked looking up to see Thor giving her a light smile, hoping to ease her already pissed off expression but the scrapper was having none of that. With a hard stomp, she walked over the Hulk, glaring at Thor as she made to pass him. Dara stood from her spot, ready to block the doorway. Valkyrie looked her up and down, before hissing at Thor, "Are you so thick headed you can't tell when someone wants to be left alone?"

"We need to talk," Thor said as she walked past him and then shoving her shoulder against Dara's before getting past both of them.

"No you want to talk to me," she rolled her eyes.

"I need her to stay," Thor asked, now looking at Hulk for assistance.

Hulk nodded, pointing at him as if saying he got it. Moving to his bed, he ripped off the headboard, which was just the jaw of some large space creature and flung it towards the doorway, blocking the entrance. The guards had been dismissed the moment Valkyrie had arrived and it was a good thing too or else they would've been smashed against the floor by it.

"Stay!" Hulk shouted, then faltered, giving her a soft smile, "Please."

"Please," Thor repeated, with pleading eyes.

"Come on, do you really have something better to do?" Dara chimed in, giving her a playful smirk.

Valkyrie flared her nostrils, thinking it over for a second. With a curt nod she said, "Alright," before moving towards the large stock of drinks kept in the room. She glanced through the selections until she found something that looked good for her. "But here's the deal, I'll listen to you 'til this is empty,"

Dara laughed at the oversized bottle and watched as Thor eagerly began to explain himself to her. As he barely got to start, Valkyrie lifted the bottle up to her lips. In a matter of seconds the bottle had been emptied. Dara blinked, her eye nearly bugged out of her skull as both her and Thor were awestruck by the woman's drinking skills. Dara looked her up and down as Thor was speechless.

"And as if you weren't already attractive before, wow," Dara laughed out, "That was the hottest thing I've seen in years,"

"Thanks," The Asgardian smirked, with a roll of her eyes, "Now bye," Valkyrie winked at the Badoon before letting the bottle slip to the ground and shatter. She tried marching out of the room but Thor moved as quickly as she had just drank.

Side stepping in front of her, he spoke, "Odin is dead. Hela the goddess of death has taken over Asgard,"

"If Hela's back then Asgard is already lost," Valkyrie paused in her step, looking up to him with big serious eyes, her cocky attitude now gone with the mention of the goddess of death.

"I'm going to stop her," Thor retorted.

"Alone?" she laughed, giving him a bewildered look. "Good luck with that, you won't stand a chance."

"I will because I'm not going alone. I'm putting together a team; it's me, her, you and the big guy," Thor explained pointing to each person in the room as he mentioned them.

Hulk who had been playing catch with himself off in the background, perked up as he was mentioned, shouting at Thor before throwing the ball against the wall again, "No team, only Hulk!"

"Fine," Thor rolled his eyes but still tried to keep his charm up, "It's me, her and yo-,"

"I think it's only you two idiots," Valkyrie scrunched her face up in amusement.

"Look," Dara stepped in, moving in between the two, impatiently. "I'm not into the whole rushing into other people's wars; I've been there done that and that's how I ended up stuck here. But, you can't tell me you actually like it here? This is my ticket off this damned place and it could be yours too."

Valkyrie looked at her calmer than she had been Thor. As Dara did to her, Valkyrie looked her up and down as well before biting her lip. She shook her head, shaking off what Dara had said, "Look," pointing a finger straight at the Badoon, Valkyrie spoke already pleadingly, "I'm not getting mixed up in another one of Odin's family's squabbles, you shouldn't involve yourself either, you seem somewhat decent and no one deserves to be put straight into their family drama."

She saw Thor's questioning look as she finished talking to the Badoon and continued, "Your sister, her power comes from Asgard same as you and when she grew beyond Odin's control she massacred everyone in the palace and tried to seize the throne. Odin banished her, but when she tried to escape her banishment Odin sent the Valkyrie after her, I only survived because-," she froze, her eyes zoning off to nowhere as they looked watery.

Shaking her again and more firmly she looked back up at Thor, "I already faced her once and I can't do that again."

Thor reached down to grab her, Dara watching from behind carefully. Valkyrie felt Thor's hand brush against her hip and sharply reacted, pulling out a dagger and getting it close to his throat. Thor looked down at it cautiously, but retracted his hand, getting what he wanted.

"Easy, look, I understand, but this is about people and they're dying." Thor said, allowing her to push him away from her.

"Just forget them, I have," she shrugged, pushing herself away as well.

"Okay,"

"Okay?" she now questioned, unsettled by his sudden readiness to back off.

"Yeah okay," Thor shrugged like she had, almost tauntingly. Valkyrie looked between him and Dara knowing that they were up to something now. Her suspicions were confirmed when he perked up again, "Thank you,"

"Huh? For what?" She narrowed her eyes,

"For this," he smirked, raising his hand up and showing the controller for their shock discs. He had nicked it off her quietly while she had been too distracted by telling him off. His smile grew wider as he clicked the button she had used to shock him upon his first arrival. With a slight buzz, the disk glowed blue before unstitching itself from him. He tossed the device to Dara so she too would be able to free herself from her own. "You didn't see that coming now did you?"

As he saw Dara was now free and now able to use her powers as the same as he, he continued his taunting, enjoying the shit-eating grin Valkyrie's death glare gave him. "You can stay here, enslave people for that madman, keep drinking, keep hiding, but me," he continued, turning to face the Hulk, itching to get out of this room. He motioned for Hulk to toss him the heavy ball he had been playing with.

"I chose to run towards my problems, and not away from them," He caught it, the weight not being too heavy for him, but still heavier for any regular mortal. "Cause that's what hero's-,"

Dara's eyes bulged out of her skull as Thor threw the ball against the window, intending to break it she assumed, but he failed; the ball simply bounced right back, smacking him against the side of his face and forcing him to the ground. She watched, now skeptically of how much she should put her faith in him to help get her off this planet. As quickly as he was knocked down, he was standing back up, pulling his armored shirt down and back in place. He pointed a shaky finger at Valkyrie, now finishing his statement, "Because that's what hero's do."

"You sure you wanna go with this guy?" Valkyrie simply rolled her eyes, landing them on Dara.

"Seriously starting to question it," Dara replied, monotone.

Thor looked between them, trying to hide him being flustered. He grabbed Dara by the shoulders, taking her away from Valkyrie before he loosed another person on his team. He noted that the ball did leave a small crack in the widow and figured that that would be enough to let him crash through it. Throwing himself out first, back facing the outside world, he held onto Dara as he smashed himself and her against the window, shattering it.

Dara let out a cry, being moved so fast and being unable to protest. He cursed at him as he held onto her as they slid down the side of the building, hurtling to the streets below. Thor pushed them off the Grandmasters building and across onto a blue building next to it. He made sure to keep his grip on her tight, as he noticed she was doing the same to him. Dara wouldn't admit out loud that her breath had been taken away from her, but it indeed had been. She wasn't a big fan of heights but would deal with them if she had a moment to prepare herself, unlike how Thor had her now free falling hundreds of feet down from one of the tallest buildings on the planet.

She hadn't even realized her mouth was left hung open, as her eyes stared down wide as can be. It was only when her feet finally reached the ground did she put her guard up again, rubbing her palms on her thighs as if to push away the nerves and adrenalines she now came to terms with. Her heart finally stopped feeling like it was thrown up into her throat and now pumped rapidly in her chest, as she took deep breaths to calm herself. Thor still had an arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist,

"You okay?" He asked, noting her frazzled state.

"You, th-i-think that next time you cou-ould warn a gi-irl before throwing her out a goddamned win-do-dow," she said catching her breath. She pushed the lord of thunder away from her, feeling stupid for being so undone. She wondered if this is how Skadi felt whenever she had one of her panic attacks. Rubbing her chin with her arm, she huffed, pushing her weakness down in her gut. "Now where?"

"The Quinjet, Hulk pointed it out to me in the Grandmasters junkyard, it belongs to my team on earth." Thor informed, moving to start walking away to avoid detection.

Once again, he grabbed her arm moving her quickly through the alley way they landed in until they reached said junkyard. They ran through the pathways of junk, ignoring the workers as they ignored them, Dara following Thor as she hadn't known what the ship they were looking for looked like yet. Eventually, Dara assumed they had found it, as Thor muttered a yes, before taking off to some scrapheap of a ship that made the Milano look like a million units.

"This is your ship?" She questioned as they quickly boarded it.

"Technically it's Stark's ship, but yes," Thor answered, racing further into it to get to the controls.

Dara scrunched her nose up as she looked around the inner workings off the ship while Thor fiddled with the dashboard up front. They'd be lucky if this thing flew in the sky let alone in space. Dara half wished Rocket was here just so she had someone to laugh about this ship with. She wondered how this even got the Hulk to where he was now. Turning her attention to Thor, who was now angrily arguing with the ships AI, as it wouldn't grant him access, she was going to comment on how they should just go find another ship to sell but stopped when she felt a large thumping coming from outside.

Both looked up at the other, wondering if they were caught but jumped up when the back of the ship was suddenly torn off; they'd defiantly have to steal another ship now. Dara groaned when she saw it was Hulk, who was now shouting at them and begging for his _friends to stay_. Dara reached out, intending to use her powers to halt him as he angrily made his way further into the ship, nearly bring the ceiling down with him. As she pushed her hands Hulk was ready for her, knowing what that meant from their times in the fighting pits. He swatted her gently away and off to the side, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to make the wind be knocked out from her again.

Thor pleaded with Hulk, as he hurriedly tried pushing buttons to get the ship moving at least. Hulk let out a wail, silencing as Thor hit a button that made a video screen pop up with a woman with short red hair on it. Dara finally stood, watching as the woman spoke to Hulk, something about turning the ship's tracker on. Dara didn't pay her no mind, instead watching as Hulk became to cry out again, punching himself in the face and flinging himself from wall to wall. Dara tried reaching out to him, seeing that he appeared to be in immense pain for whatever reason but Thor reached her before she could, holding her back with a shake of his head.

Dara watched as he shouted out, "No Banner!" before collapsing to the ground, his body heaving as it seemed to sink and change in color. With each deep breath his body changed more and more until Dara was now staring at a naked man with dark curly hair, instead of the Hulk. Utterly confused at what just happened, she turned to Thor for answers. He didn't give her any though as he quickly rushed to the jittery man's side,

"The sun's going down, the sun's going down," Thor repeated, petting the man's shoulder, causing him to stare bug eyed at Thor. The man's breathing began to settle, as his now began to look around the room "That's it breath, breath,"

"Thor?" The man questioned, now holding his head with his hand and closing his eyes, "What happened? What happened to your hair?" He now reached out to his old friend.

"Eh, some creepy old man cut it off," Thor nodded, happy to see his old friend.

"It looks good," he nodded, beginning to sit up. "Where are we? How's Nat? And Sokovia? Did we win?" he paused, noting Thor's confused face. Getting frustrated and wanting answers he repeated himself but more forcefully, "The city?! Sokovia, Ultron- did we save it?"

"Banner, listen," Thor shook his head now realizing that Bruce had no memory of the last few years. "Sokovia, and Ultron- that was two years ago,"

"Hold on, wait," Bruce now stood up, pulling the now large blanket like Hulk pants up with him to cover himself. "Are you telling me I've been Hulk for two years?"

He now noted Dara's presence, jumping up and pulling the blanket around himself tighter. He stared at her up and down, never quit seeing someone look the way she looked. He wasn't judging, having being the Hulk, but just didn't expect someone else to be on the jet with him and Thor, let alone someone with- _erm,_ fury green arms and tough looking almost reptilian like skin.

"Who are you?" He questioned, pointing at her, his eyes then dashing to Thor, "Who is she?"

"I am thoroughly confused," She answered, crossing her arms against her chest and glaring at the back of Thor's head. "Who the hell is this? What happened to Hulk?"

"Ha, well you see-," Thor started but stopped as he saw Bruce stand and now walk through the jet, hearing the life of the city going on outside. "Bruce-,"

"Thor, where are we?" Bruce turned to the window, seeing the flying cars and colorful buildings outside. He looked down, seeing the control panel and placed his hand on the keypad, accessing the system.

Before he could start looking through the ship's log, a loud alarm blared through the city, before the Grandmaster's voice could be heard, informing his citizens of the Hulk being missing, and Thor and Dara being the culprits. Dara sneered, now on edge as the two men now discussed who the Grandmaster was, Bruce having no clue and Thor having to fill him in on him.

"Yeah you lived in his house, we had a fights, I won though," Thor said briefly, shrugging to himself like it was no big deal.

"You won? That doesn't sound right-,"

"Enough!" Dara shouted, earning the two of theirs attention. Thor rolled his eyes, at her while Bruce was still shocked to see her. Placing a hand on her hip, she used the other to motion outside, "We've been caught and now we need to move. He'll send guards here first, especially if the scraper rats us out. So, whoever you are, Hulk or not Hulk, I don't care, but if we're still gonna have any chance of getting off this planet we need to move, and we need to move now."

"Who is she?" Bruce questioned again, turning back and up to face Thor. Thor rolled his eyes at his friend, agreeing with Dara, before moving into action. Dara was right, they were low on time and now their chances were slim; they had to get back to Asgard and they had to get there now.


	22. Hot and Burning In Your Nostrils

_Chapter 22 __Hot and Burning In Your Nostrils_

Skadi had bit her tongue all morning; Hela mustn't suspect a thing, just like Heimdall said. But Skadi was one to not be able to, especially when she was angry and oh boy was she currently angry. The look of fear her people wore as Hela had them rounded up sent a sharp knock through the princess. And from the pleading look that they sent her as well as the look of betrayal, Skadi could feel herself slipping, but as she kept telling herself, she could not say anything.

This morning as Hela moved her army across the Bifrost, Skadi knew what was coming. She knew they'd reach the gate and find that the sword was not there. She knew she'd be forced to play dumb as her sister furiously lashed against her newly appointed Executioner, Skurge. But what she didn't see coming was Hela calling what was left of their citizens, the ones who weren't yet executed and the ones who have yet been able to escape to wherever Heimdall had them safely hidden. Skadi knew her sister was cruel, she'd seen it over the last few days, but this was too much.

"Asgardians, some misguided soul has stolen the key to the Bifrost," Skurge's voice echoed through the down square. "Tell us where it is, or there will be consequences."

Skadi rolled her eyes, unable to take him seriously, especially as he had to turn back to Hela, as if he was a child needing help. Hela stood besides Skadi, only a few inches back while behind the pair of them was Hela's newly resurrected giant wolf, Fenris. Skadi could feel the dog shift, as if knowing that Skurge needed help in frightening the Asgardians. Skadi sighed, seeing as the people flinched.

"Well?" Skurge asked, looking out into the crowd, waiting for someone to step up.

Skadi bit her lip, willing for no one too but at the same time wished that someone did, knowing that the situation was about to escalate; she could feel Hela's patiences running thin from where she stood. The sound of Hela's heels clicking on the steps, told Skadi that time was out and since no one stepped forward Hela would to deal out the _consequences_.

"You," Hela said smoothly, pointing into the crowd.

Skadi closed her eyes as Hela's guards moved to grab an elderly woman out from the crowd. The crowds pleads were falling on deaf ears, as Hela moved back to her spot and Skurge moved to make room for the elderly woman, who was now shaking like a leaf in the wind. The woman was thrown roughly to the ground, her cries causing Skadi to open her eyes.

Skurge was being just as forced as Skadi was, as she could see his reluctance as her sister ordered him to bring her the woman's head. Skadi could feel her heart racing as Skurge nodded, moving to raise his axe up to complete the order; she could tell the Executioner didn't want to execute. Skurge's hesitation bought her time to remember Heimdall words from last night once again. Heimdall said to wait until it's time but Skadi knew that at this moment she couldn't just stand there like she'd done with the soldiers Hela executed. She had to do something, now was the right moment; now she had to take a stand and try.

"No!" She shouted, flinging her arms out as Skurge was about to bring down the axe finally finishing his own inner battle.

Out shot a blaze of ice, sending the axe clanging to the ground a few feet passed Skurge and the woman, landing right in front of the crowd. A gasp from the crowd was heard, as well as a grunt of annoyance from Hela. Skadi looked at her sister, who now glared at her harshly; from behind she could feel Fenris now standing up, hovering over her.

In a flash, Skadi wasted no time, feeling her power being enhanced from not only the Ancient Winters but from her anger, she darted out of the way as Fenris swiped her paw out at her and then ducking as Hela sent an array of daggers her way. Rolling onto the floor and landing in a crouching position, Skadi punching into the ground, cracking it and sending a trail of ice Fenris's way. The wolf's feet were frozen in thick chunks of ice, the giant creature barking as it tried to rip itself out of the way.

Skadi expected Hela to strike again but didn't, only painstakingly slowly walking down the steps. Skadi watched her but could hear her guards being silently summoned to attack her. Still crouched down, slightly jerking herself up, she kicked up her foot upwards knocking the first skeleton solider back a few steps, giving her enough time to get back onto her feet just in time to block a sword from being struck down on her. The sword clashed against her gauntlet, creating an icy spark. Skadi used her other hand to reach for one of her daggers, swiping up and across the skeleton's torso, before digging it in and pulling out.

The others quickly surrounded her but she didn't falter, throwing the dagger at one, landing a hit right into its eye socket, while using her other hand to shot out more ice blasts towards the others. She grabbed her last dagger, moving to look as if she was going to repeat the same motion with another soldier but at the last second changed targets, aiming this time for her sister. As the last soldier was shot down with an ice blast the dagger reached the unsuspecting Hela.

The Queen of the dead, huffed, quickly tearing the dagger out of her shoulder just as quickly as it lodged itself in there. She would easily heal but her pride wouldn't. She knew deep down that the weak girl would betray her no matter how much she tried to fool herself and hope that the girl really wanted to join her cause. But she knew Skadi left her room last night, and she knew where she went. Skadi was a naïve to think she could pull one over on her. Executing innocence was Skadi's punishment for trying to play Hela as a fool.

Just as Hela tossed the dagger to the ground, Fenris had finally broke free of her bonds. Eyes widening, Skadi backed up, seeing Skurge and daring him to fight her. He froze, not from her but just from fear and uncertainty on what to do. Skadi rolled her eyes, helping the elderly woman up quickly and passing her off to two men from the crowd who ran over to help.

"Run! Get as far away as you can from here!" She warned them, and they nodded to her thankfully.

She could hear Fenris leaping into the air, intending to pounce on them but Skadi wouldn't have it. Screaming, pushing her muscles, she made a large barrier wall of ice, separating them from the giant wolf dog. The creature slammed into the ice, causing it to crack a smidge. Skadi placed her hands on it, feeling the atoms and bonds in the ice, making them stronger and fixing the crack. Hela made no move, eying Skurge, now testing him to defend her since he was on the right side of her sister's wall while she was not.

Skadi turned to look at him, but not letting go of the wall as Fenris clawed at it. Skurge eyed his fallen weapon, contemplating his next move. He would surely live if he sided with Hela, but would he be able to live with himself if he did? He knew what he was doing was wrong but it was pretty hard to go against a goddess such as herself, especially now.

Skadi cried out, letting go of the wall and instead making it wider, seeing as Fenris gave up and starting to move to go around it. Stretching her arms out gracefully, the wall formed around the town square making it impossible for Fenris to get to them now. She felt herself starting to tire, never using that much power before. She took a step back, looking to see that the people were now safely away from the square. Her eyes caught Skurge's, and she let out a shaky breath.

"I won't hesitate to kill you if you pick that up and fight for her." She said bluntly, pointing to the axe. "But pick that up and fight for Asgard, and I'll protect you from her, like I should've been doing since she's gotten here."

Skadi then pointed to Hela, whose ears perked up at her small speech. She was beginning to sound like a princess; she was wrong of course, but it was an improvement from the usual stuttering mess she was. Skadi could feel Hela's fiery stare and meet her with an icy one of her own. Now moving to walk away and help the people find safety, Skadi paused to look back at Skurge.

"Well?" She questioned, giving him a second before shaking her head and moving along.

She didn't look back walking away from the scene, knowing that she now had to find those people and Heimdall. She didn't get very far as she was forcefully thrown to the ground, a heavy body now on top of her. Angry, she moved to shove Skurge off of her, seeing that it was him but paused when she realized what he did.

Next to them a spike was sticking up from out of the ground; Hela would've killed her if he hadn't pushed her out of the way. Skurge got off of her and pulled her up, pushing her backwards and shouting at her to run. She nodded, and the pair ran, a stream of black spikes nearly piercing them as they did.

"Shit!" Skadi hissed, one practically impaling her by an inch. It only cut her from her leg up to her shoulder before towering up.

"Fly," Skurge huffed, his armor making him trail behind a few paces. "You can get away faster if you fly."

"What about you?" Skadi called back, sending a blast of ice at a spike that popped out in front of him, causing it to stop forming.

"Forget about me, your people need you more." He responded.

Skadi bit her lip; he was her people do. Groaning at the situation at hand. Skadi darted up to the sky but not before spiraling towards him and picking him up. His armor made him heavy, and she wasn't used to carrying something weighting this much. The heaviest she ever had to carry was Drax but they didn't get that far due to his weight. But she pursued anyway, flying them deeper into the city.

She wiped her head back, hearing a loud bang, and the sound of a building collapsing. She gaped when she saw Fenris, barreling out of a building and now on their side of the wall. _The dumb dog crashed through one of the buildings to get through her barrier,_ she cursed to herself. She also could see Hela now using her spikes to take down her ice wall.

Flying faster as the dog caught up to them quickly, she headed straight to the Bifrost, planning on losing the wolf over the water. The wolf jumped up at them, snarling her teeth and trying to snatch them up with her fangs. Skadi jerked them out of the way, landing them on a roof forcefully in order to avoid being engulfed by Fenris's jaws. Huffing, and catching their breaths as they rolled to a stop, the pair kept themselves focused. Skadi knew they could stay on this rooftop for so long before Hela and Fenris would surely sniff them out.

"Leave me, you can fly faster without lugging me with 'ya." Skurge told her, looking over the roof to see if the coast was clear.

"No, you betrayed Hela, she'll feed you to that mutt." Skadi shook her head no, adjusting her chest armor as she did. She wore her full outfit Hela gave her, but began to take off the cloak, it slowing her down. As she did, she also noted the large gash on her leg from where Hela's spike hit her. The blood was pouring out more than she would've liked, and the sight made her slightly light headed. Shaking her head, trying to ignore the irritating pain, she looked back up to Skurge.

"I'll distract them, you need to make sure you get to safety. Let me do this, to make up for what I've done for her," He pleaded, hearing the large footsteps of Fenris coming from up the street. She must've finally turned around and realized that they were hiding up high.

"Take this then," Skadi frowned, knowing that he was speaking truth. She needed to still be alive for Thor and Loki's arrival, whereas Skurge didn't. It was harsh, but true. She unsheathed the sword Hela made for her, handing it over to him. "Don't go down without a fight,"

Skurge nodded as she flew a few feet up from the roof, giving her a nervous smile. Sighing, she took off knowing that if she stood any longer she'd end up taking him and getting themselves caught in the process. Taking one look back at the rooftop, see flew as fast as she could, figuring her best bet was to hid out on the outskirts of the city, she could wait out until her brothers arrived. Hopefully it was soon, because she wasn't quite sure how long she could out run her sister.

As she flew low, using the buildings as cover, Skadi waited until she reached the outskirts to move to travel by foot, knowing she'd find better cover in the trees verses the sky. She had partly wished she didn't give Skurge her last weapon, feeling herself grow weak after walking for what felt like hours. She knew she had to find some sort of shelter, knowing Hela would be sending her guards after her as soon as she finished of Skurge.

She hadn't realized how harsh her breathing was until now. The pounding in her ears from the adrenaline were now wearing off and all she could hear were the shallow breathes she couldn't control or stop from escaping from her mouth. She could feel it in her lungs as well, it was like she was on fire as the pain from her wound finally started to get to her. Looking down and running a lazy hand over the cut fabric on her upper thigh, she winced at the contact of skin; thankfully her armored thighs protected a majority of her leg.

She found herself leaning against a tree for support, sinking to the forest floor to take what she intended to be a quick break to gather herself together. What she didn't intend was for her to loose herself in a heap of exhaustion, the panic and anxiety fully taking over and reverting her to her usually self. Moving her uninjured leg up to used it to lean her head down on, trying to blink away the dots scattering across her vision. She could rustling around her, but couldn't find it in herself to move. It was almost as if she could hear a comforting voice telling her not to, so she didn't. She felt a calming sensation overcome her and as the rustling turned to close footsteps, she found herself floating into a lull until all she saw was darkness.


	23. We Found You Hiding

_**an. So honestly not gonna lie, I totally lost my steam for this story for the last two weeks. Between work and lack of feedback for this I just was so discouraged from updating. But works slowed down now that holiday is over and I still want to finish this story so I **__**intend**__** to do so. I hate coming off as begging for reviews but I really do **__**love**__** some sort of feedback so if you want to take the time to leave one I'd greatly **__**appreciate**__** it! Anyway enough of the wow-is me thing and on with the story! **_

_Chapter 23: __We Found You Hiding_

Feeling bad for people was something Dara rarely did, especially in tense situations like she found herself in now. She wanted to be brash, maybe ditch the _team_ she found herself a part of, but where would she go? They were caught, _she_ was caught, and she could only watch as the chance of escape dwindled right in front of her eyes as she tried to tone out the back and forth between her idiotic companions.

The wall she leaned on was the only thing keeping her steady, as she irritably appeared to be the only one on alert, the cloth she used as a head and body covering, hiding her quaking legs. She was indeed anxious but her legs shook due to aggravation and it was the only thing that kept her from lashing out but soon her patience ran out, and she jerked her head down to the Asgardian and newly discovered Terran, her teeth baring at the pair.

"Will you calm the fuck down?" She snarled, her fingertips digging into her arms as she kept them tightly crossed against her chest.

Banner sat, head in hands on a stoop, as Thor patronized him by rubbing his back over and over again, repeating the same phase, _"the sun is going down, it's getting real low,". _He jerked his own head up to the alien woman, shrugging Thor's hand off his back. Thor froze, not knowing what to do to keep the man calm. The last thing they needed was the Hulk hulking out.

"Excuse me? Calm?" Bruce retorted to the woman, eye brow raising, as if she was asking him to kill a puppy. "I can't stay calm, I'm on an alien planet!"

"So? Earth's a planet, you've been there." Dara rolled her eyes, turning to look back onto the streets, keeping an eye out for any of the Grandmaster's guards or Scraper's.

"Yeah one planet!" Bruce exclaimed, feeling his heart rate increasing. How did they expect him to act after two years trap inside the Hulk? These people didn't understand. He was freaking out, and he believed he had every right to be. And to now be on an alien planet with real aliens? His neurons were firing faster than his brain could handle the information. He looked back up at Dara, "You're an alien! I'm supposed to be calm about that?"

"You're an alien," Dara chuckled, the Terrain amusing her with his bewilderment at her statement. His eyes widening in realization that he too was an alien to her, made her laugh.

"Look, let's not get him too excited," Thor chastised moving to pat his back again, only to be swatting away by Bruce again. Thor raised a hand up in surrender, before speaking again. "We're all aliens here, this is an experience."

"You think? This whole thing is totally different this time. In the past, I've always felt like I've had at least one hand on the wheel but now it's like he had the keys and I was locked in the trunk." Bruce ran his fingers through his hair.

"So let me get this straight again," Dara cut in, still trying to grasp how his whole thing worked from when both he and Thor explained it to her before they left the Quinjet. "You get mad, or stressed and you turn into that giant toddler?"

"Dara,- look, Bruce you're back now, and that's all that matters." Thor cut her off, not wanting to overwhelm his friend more than he already was, moving to get back to the matter at hand. They still had a planet to escape and another to save. "I'm going to figure out to get us back to Asgard,"

"Thank you- wait what? No, no no, you aren't listening to me, this whole situation is designed to stress me out and if I turn into the Hulk again I may never come back!" Bruce exclaimed, annoyed by Thor clearly ignoring how serious this situation was.

"Listen, my people are in danger and you and I, we have to fight my sister-,"

"Okay, no." Bruce didn't let him finish, cutting him off with a shake of his hand, crunching his face up. "That's a family issue; what's with you and all these family issues, man?"

"She's an evil being-,"

"No!" Bruce shouted, causing Thor to jump up cautiously. "I don't care what she is, I'm not fighting anymore beings. I'm sick of it. I just told you I can't turn into the Hulk again, I may never come back! And you don't care."

"No I do care but I'm putting a team together it's you, me and her and you're the fire; Hulk's the fire!" Thor exclaimed, clearly proving Bruce right.

"Wow, you really don't care about what he's saying." Dara stated bluntly, pushing herself off the wall with a snort. She shook her head in amusement as the bickering reminded her of her old days on the Milano.

"See?" Bruce motioned towards the alien that took his side. "She get it! She gets it and you don't! I've known her for only like an hour and I've known you for years now. You're just using me to get the Hulk!" Bruce shook his head, looking down at his hands.

Thor was his only way off this planet. Bruce was a smart man but he hadn't the first clue how to survive in an alien planet. He had no idea about the culture or language. He was completely helpless here and Thor was his only hope of surviving. He really didn't want to throw himself into another situation like the attack of New York or Ultron. Especially his slip up as the Hulk that was still fresh in his mind thanks to that witch. With a look of disgust, he looked back up at Thor, his eyes glaring daggers at the God of Thunder, "That's gross, you don't care about me. You're not my friend."

Hearing enough already, Dara couldn't stop herself from inserting herself back into their argument again, wanting to poke at them some more, possibly to stir things up some more or just be an ass. She could tell which she was doing it for but she put at _heartfelt _hand over her heart as she looked down at Bruce, mimicking concern, "Yeah, Thunder, you're such a shitty friend. It's okay Bruce I care."

"Was- was that sarcasm? Do aliens do sarcasm?" Bruce stammered, thrown off and slightly offended.

"Of course it was sarcasm! Are all you Terran's this dense? I feel like I'm talking to Quill," Dara muttered towards the end, holding the hand that was over her heart to her head, feeling a migraine forming. Swatting her hand down to her side and got back to business, glaring at the two idiots. "Now, look, I am so _terribly sorry_ about your situation, not really, but we have more pressing matters to deal with now." She then pointed to Bruce and then to Thor, "So forget your situation and forget about your evil sister. We need a plan to get off this planet now or else I'm leaving you two here and doing it myself."

"Now, what does Bruce Banner have to offer that Hulk doesn't?" Crossing her arms against her chest she looked at Bruce up and down, waiting expectantly.

"This is exactly what I'm saying!" Thor answered for him, turning to Banner, almost looking apologetic, "No offense but we need Hulk, he's the most powerful out of the two of you."

"Hey! Banner's useful too!" Bruce exclaimed, offense taken.

"Are you though?" Dara cut them off again, still waiting for his answer to his question.

"Who do you think created the Hulk, huh?" He glared at Thor, inching closer to get his point across before looking back up at Dara, "Me, I did. And how many PhDs does Hulk have? Zero! Banner? Seven," Bruce said proudly smirking, jerking a thumb to his chest.

"What's a PhD?" Dara crunched her face up and squinted her eyes down at him.

"Really?" Bruce gapped; this was unbelievable.

"This is going nowhere. He doesn't have to fight, but you're right," Thor spoke up irritated that things were clearly not going as smoothly as he was used to. He looked up to Dara, "We are in danger, so we have to move."

Relieved and less agitated, Dara mentally thanked them as they stopped squabbling like old women and stood, getting ready to head out. As Bruce stood though, he had a look of discomfort and awkwardly began adjusting his crotch, earning weird looks from his companions.

"What are you doing? Stop doing that!" Thor said, embarrassed pushing him back softly.

"Tony wears his pants super tight! I can't help it!" Bruce spat back, feeling himself become frustrated and overwhelmed.

"Why are you so weird?" Dara sneers, looking up and down the side street they were on to see if the coast was clear.

"Oh, I don't maybe the fact that I was trapped for two years inside of a monster made me a little weird!" Banner sneered right back, sick of them picking on everything he did. He didn't noticed but his companions did, as his skin flashed green.

Thor jumped into action, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, repeating that stupid phrase again, "Hey, it's okay, you're good. Calm down. Listen, we're gonna go to Asgard and you're not gonna have to think about the Hulk ever again, all right?"

"All rig-," Bruce wasn't able to finish as Dara tried pushing him out of the way as green dusty paint was thrown at his face from an approaching crowd.

The Grandmaster must've sent his people out to the streets, to celebrate the Hulk and help him get home. They were caught off guard and before Dara could grab a hold of Banner, he was swept off into the parade. Dara darted off after the crowd, calling out Bruce by name with Thor following closely behind her, both gripping onto the fabric being used to cover them. They managed to make their way through the chaos and somehow hear Banner calling out for them. Wincing at their names being shouted they quickly rush to him, thankfully getting to him shortly after, thanks to Thor and Dara pushing everyone out of their path. Thor grabs Banner the moment he's in eyesight and pulls him close, protectively.

One of the aliens Thor knocked aside, turned to look down at them. Dara gulped, recognizing him from the Grandmasters compound. He was one of the Scrapper's and a big one at that. Being so close to them, the Scrapper easily recognized Dara, and inched forward for her with a smirk. Dara was ready to push him back with her powers but ended up not having to as the Scrapper suddenly was electrocuted from behind. As he fell to the ground, Valkyrie appears behind him, hands on her hips, looking at the three smugly.

"Hi," Thor trailed off, awkwardly.

"Hi," the Asgardian replied back, looking between the three of them as if she was expecting a thanks.

"I was gonna do that." Thor pointed to the man on the ground, still using a hand to hold onto Bruce.

"Well I did it first." Valkyrie said still appearing to be unamused and uncaring of them. Still she asked them with an eyebrow raised, "What are you doing here? I thought you said you were leaving?"

"Sidetracked, you know how things work," Thor shrugged, looking around aimlessly, playing with the fabric that rest on his head.

"What's with the…"

"It's our disguise." Thor shook his head like it was the most obvious thing.

"I can still see your face."

"Look, are you arresting us?" Dara interrupted, "Or…"

Valkyrie smirked at her, back backing up, jerking her head as if to tell them to follow. Knowing there was no running and having a feeling that it was safe due to Valkyrie's eyes, Dara proceeded to follow her. Thor pulled Bruce along cautiously, knowing that if this went south, minus Bruce, Dara and Thor both now had their powers freely at use and could easily team up and defeat Valkyrie if she turned on them.

Bruce was _whispering_ to Thor, asking about Valkyrie, never seeing her before but feeling some sort of familiarity with her. What were those markings on her eyes? Was that some weird Alien way of saying how many people she's killed? He felt that was an alien thing to do; he must've seen something like that in a tv show or movie on Earth at some point.

"Who is this guy?" Valkyrie asked, turning around suddenly, Bruce doing a botched job of keeping his voice quiet.

They stopped short once they reached an apartment building, Valkyrie leading them in without a word. Thor and Bruce looked at each other trying to think of something to say to her, some way to explain who Bruce was. They weren't quite sure if they should tell her who Bruce was or if they should keep that to themselves still. Dara didn't seem to be spilling the beans anytime soon, she was too occupied with keeping a look out as they paused in their step.

"He's a friend."

"I'm Bruce."

Val looked between the pair as they spoke at the same time. She could tell they weren't lying but weren't telling her the full truth. Shrugging it off, she turned back on her heel and led them into the Sakaarian building. She had a weird feeling about _Thor's friend, Bruce_. She too felt like he was familiar.

Once they entered the hall leading up to her apartment, she paused again. Turning to look at them, feeling the need to give them some sort of explanation, especially with what, or more like who she had tied up in her apartment.

"Look, I've spend years and years, in a haze trying to forget my past. Sakaar seemed like the best place to drink and forget and to die on." She explained, Thor cutting her off the moment she faltered,

"I was thinking that you drink too much and that probably was going to kill you,"

"I don't plan to stop drinking," Val shook her head, getting them back on track. "But I don't want to forget. I can't turn away anymore so if I'm going to die I want it to be driving my sword into the heart of that murderous hag."

"Good," Thor smiled at her, having hope again that this plan might work and they might actually save his home.

"I also have a peace offering," Val continued, backing up to unlock her door and letting it slide open.

The three look inside, the room revealing the peace offering to be known other than Loki. Dara chuckled, noticing how he was sat in the middle of the apartment with a dozen chains around him. He smiled up at them slyly, tauntingly almost in a sing-song voice saying, "Surprise!"

Thor responded to his brother like any brother should after all Loki had done to him and their family, by tossing one of the many empty bottles of beer in the room at him. The bottle bounced off of Loki's head with a painful sound before shattering as it hit the floor.

"OW," Loki winced, looking up to his brother.

"Just had to be sure it wasn't a trick." Thor shrugged before entering the room.

Loki rolled his eyes at him, before looking up at the rest of the group entering the building. Val walked past him without a word along with Dara, as Bruce slowly entered. He was clearly unsettled by the appearance of Loki. The last time they pair met wasn't a good experience but in honesty who could really say that about their first time meeting Loki, the God of Mischief?

"Hello, Bruce," Loki greeted,

"Last time I saw you, you were trying to kill everyone. Where are you at these days?" Bruce said awkwardly, unsure on how to greet or respond to the God.

"It varies from moment to moment."

Bruce's eyes widened in shock, before Dara quickly ushered to poor Teran away from the Asgardian, clearly seeing that Loki was just messing around but Bruce didn't seem to notice. As Bruce is led into the apartment, he can't help but notice that it was an absolute cluttered shithole. Bottles were everywhere, blood splattered clothes in the corner, knives in the wall, and just junk everywhere. He gave Thor a look, silently telling him that he thought Val might be crazy but Thor shrugged, giving him a _no, she's cool_, gesture.

Thor's own eyes trailed around the apartment as well, his eyes overlooking all the hordes of junk as his eyes trained in on a piece of shining metal. He pulled if off a cluttered counter, showing the sword of as he looked at it in amazement. They didn't make these anymore since there were no more Valkyrie. He'd always wanted to see one up in person, and hold one; it was the famed sword of the Valkyrie, a Dragonfang.

Val couldn't help but feel proud of it as he showed it off, before getting back to business. They had a lot to discuss, a lot of plans to make and think through if they planned on escaping this damned planet. Cracking open a bottle and handing it off to Dara, who took it thankfully, opened another for herself. Taking a large gulp, and letting out a belch after the long swing and was ready to get back to it.

"Alright, let's do this,"


End file.
